Key Facts
- •Applicant pleaded guilty to producing cannabis (Class B drug) on 24 October 2022.
- •Sentenced to eight months' detention in a young offender institution.
- •Applicant applied for an extension of time (396 days) for leave to appeal against conviction.
- •Applicant sought leave to introduce fresh psychiatric evidence and evidence of being a victim of trafficking.
- •Applicant was a victim of trafficking from Albania, forced to work at a cannabis farm to pay off a debt.
- •CPS policy on prosecuting victims of trafficking was not followed.
- •Applicant suffered from undiagnosed mental health problems (depression, anxiety, PTSD).
- •Conclusive Grounds Decision confirmed applicant's victim of trafficking status.
- •Prosecution conceded error and did not oppose the appeal.
Legal Principles
Abuse of process to prosecute a victim of trafficking while a referral to the National Referral Mechanism is in progress.
CPS policy and case law.
A guilty plea does not preclude an appeal if the plea was entered due to a lack of understanding of the defence or other procedural errors.
Case law.
Cases where prosecution conduct amounts to abuse of process.
R v AAD, AAH and AAI [2022] EWCA Crim 106; R v AFU [2023] EWCA Crim 23; R v BKR [2023] EWCA Crim 903.
Outcomes
Appeal granted, extension of time allowed.
The prosecution's conduct was in error; fresh evidence suggests the guilty plea was equivocal and the applicant may have been deprived of a successful defence.
Conviction quashed.
The conviction was unsafe due to the abuse of process and the possibility that the guilty plea resulted from a defective understanding of the position.
No retrial ordered.
Given the basis on which the conviction was quashed, a retrial would be inappropriate.