Matthew Hargreaves v Powys County Council
[2022] EWHC 3176 (Admin)
Butler, R (on the application of) v Leeds Magistrates’ Court
16 November 2023
[2023] EWHC 3420 (Admin)
High Court
A man didn't pay a court order to repay money made from crime. The lower court sent him to jail. The higher court said the lower court was right because it only enforces orders, it doesn't decide if they are fair or not. The man should have challenged the original order earlier if he thought it was wrong.
Key Facts
- •Claimant convicted on 22 March 2018 and sentenced to nine years' imprisonment (served).
- •Confiscation order of £1,112,670.24 made against claimant on 26 April 2021 by the Crown Court.
- •Claimant failed to pay the confiscation order.
- •Claimant applied to adjourn an enforcement hearing at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on 22 November 2022.
- •Magistrates' Court refused the adjournment and committed the claimant to custody for 2,317 days.
- •Claimant sought judicial review of the Magistrates' Court decision.
- •Claimant argued the Magistrates' Court failed to properly apply section 82(4) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980.
Legal Principles
Magistrates' Court's enforcement of a Crown Court confiscation order is bound by the Crown Court's findings unless varied or appealed.
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, Magistrates' Courts Act 1980
Confiscation orders are made 'in personam' against the offender, not against specific property. The Magistrates' Court cannot go behind the findings of the Crown Court.
Gokal v The Serious Fraud Office [2001] EWCA Civ 368, McKinsley v Crown Prosecution Service [2006] EWCA Civ 1092, R v Najafpour [2009] EWCA Crim 2723, R v Younis [2008] EWCA Crim 2950, R v Blackledge [2020] EWCA Crim 1108
Section 82(4) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 requires an inquiry into a person's means before issuing a warrant of commitment for non-payment of a fine, but this does not require re-examining the Crown Court's findings on the existence of assets at the time of the confiscation order.
Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, s.82(4)
The Magistrates' Court's role is to enforce the Crown Court's order; they cannot overturn or reassess the validity of the original order.
R v Harrow Justices, ex parte DPP [1991] 1 WLR 395, R v Hastings and Rother Justices, ex parte Anscombe [1998] 162 JP 340
Outcomes
Claim for judicial review dismissed.
The Magistrates' Court correctly applied the law by enforcing the Crown Court's confiscation order. They were not required to re-examine the validity of the order or the claimant's assertions about asset availability at the time the original order was made. The claimant's recourse was through appeal, not re-litigating the issue in enforcement proceedings.