Maxwell [2010] UKSC 48; [2011] 2 Cr. App. R. 31, [2011] 1 WLR 1837

Transcript

The issue in this appeal is whether the Court of Appeal was right to order a retrial in respect of the appellant. The circumstances in which a court may order a retrial are set out in section 7(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968, as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1988, which provides: “Where the Court of Appeal allows an appeal against conviction and it appears to the Court that the interests of justice so require, they may order the appellant to be retried”. The appellant and his brother were convicted of murder and two robberies at Leeds Crown Court on 27 February 1998. The appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder to be served with concurrent twelve-year terms for the robberies. The main prosecution witness was Karl Chapman, a professional criminal and a supergrass. On 11 June and 13 October 1996 robberies took place at the home of two elderly brothers. On both occasions the robbers used violence and took money. On the second occasion, the elder brother sustained injuries to the head which later resulted in his death. In the ensuing police investigation Chapman provided the police with information and witness statements implicating the appellant and his brother. They were charged with robbery and murder. Chapman’s evidence was central to the prosecution’s case at trial. He vigorously denied that he was expecting or receiving any benefits from the police for his evidence. Following the convictions there were allegations in the local press that the police were planning to pay Chapman a large sum of money upon his release from prison. Subsequently, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (“CCRC”) decided to investigate. North Yorkshire Police carried out detailed investigations into the activities of the police which formed the basis of the CCRC report in November 2008. The findings of the report showed that the police had conspired to pervert the course of justice in concealing and lying about a variety of rewards and benefits received by Chapman. It was revealed, for example, that the police had paid him sums of money, taken him to brothels, allowed him to consume drugs in their company and not investigated allegations that he had committed violent attacks. On 25 November 2008 the CCRC made a reference to the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal on the ground that the convictions had been procured by gross prosecutorial misconduct on the part of the police. The appellant and his brother remained in prison during this period. Between October 1998 and September 2004, whilst in prison, the appellant had made a series of admissions of guilt freely and voluntarily to various persons. On 1 December 2009, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of the appellant and his brother. The findings of the CCRC relating to the gross police misconduct were not challenged. The court held that had the findings been revealed during the trial, the trial judge might have stayed the prosecution as an abuse of process or applied section 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to exclude Chapman’s evidence altogether, in which case the appellant and his brother would have been acquitted. However, the court also held that the admissions made by the appellant between 1998 and
2004 constituted clear and compelling evidence of his guilt. In light of this the Court of Appeal found that it was in the interests of justice to order a retrial of the appellant.

Held: Appeal dismissed