The Gazette 1967/71

When counsel for an appellant against sentence sub mitted in the Court of Appeal that a suspended sentence for robbery should not have been brought into oper ation the following year consecutively with a sentence then being passed for assaulting a policeman, the Lord Chief Justice said: "There is a hopeless misconception among criminals that if, with a suspended sentence, they commit an offence of a completely different character they will not have the suspended sentence brought into operation. The sooner they are disillusioned about that the better." [R. v. Stevens. Court of Appeal. The Times, 17 November, 1970.] The Court said that the Theft Act, 1968, did not aban don the basic conception both of the common law and of earlier legislation that there could be no theft with out an "intention of permanently depriving" another of his property, and that although there was no statutory definition of those words, section 6 (1) sought to clarify their meaning, not to cut down the definition of "theft" in section 1 (1). [R. v. Warner. Court of Appeal. The Times, 24 November. 1970.] The principle applying to an order for payment of compensation is completely different from that applic able to an order to pay a fine or costs, the Court stated when refusing to interfere with a compensation order against a man convicted of burglary and sentenced to imprisonment. The Lord Chief Justice said: "If a man takes someone else's money or goods it is only right that he should do all he can to make good the loss." [R. v. Ironfield. Court of Appeal. The Times 18 November, 1970.] Damages Interest on damages which the court must award when giving judgment in personal injuries cases cannot be obtained by a plaintiff signing interlouutory judge ment with an order for the damages to be assessed by a judge after money has been paid into court. [Blundell v. Rimmer. Payne J. The Times, 4 December 1970.] Damages of £37,500 awarded to a former farm worker aged 22, who became a quadraplegic after receiving severe injuries in a car accident were reduced by £4.875. [Agar v. Elliott & Another. Court of Appeal The Times, 13 November, 1970.] Drainage In a reserved judgment, the Supreme Court has dis missed an appeal by the Commissioners of Public Works in an action arising out of proposed drainage works on the River Maigue. The Court ruled that the scheme, and the notices served in purported compliance with the Arterial Drain age Act, 1945, are not in conformity with the provisions of the Act and are ultra vires and invalid. The appeal was against the finding of the President of the High Court, Mr. Justice O'Keeffe, that the Maigue Catchment Drainage Scheme prepared by the Com missioners was not in conformity with the powers con- 160

Crime , Their Lordships gave reasons for holding on October 14 that Eugene Anthony Treacy, who posted in the Isle of Wight a letter written by him and addressed to and received by a Mrs. X in Frankfurt, Germany was rightly held guilty of blackmail within section 21 of the Theft Act, 1968. They had dismissed by a majority (Lord Reid and Lord Morris dissenting) an apeal by the appellant against the decision of the Court of Appeal (The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Justice Karminski and Mr. Justice John Stephenson) (The Times, August 5; [1970] 3 W.L.R. 592) dismissing his appeal against his conviction at the Cen tral Criminal Court (Judge King-Hamilton) last Decem ber. Section 21 reads: "A person is guilty of blackmail if ... he makes any unwarranted demand with menaces Section 29 (1) of the Larceny Act, 1916, which was replaced by the Theft Act, provided: "(1) Every person who—(i) utters . . . any letter or writing demanding of any prson with menaces . . . shall be guilty of felony ' [Treacy v. D.P.P. House of Lords. (1971). 2 WLR 112] The defence of "necessity" to justify an otherwise unlawful act is of very limited application in the law of England and does not extend to justify persons in desperate need of houses squatting in empty council properties for an indefinite period. Nor is the local authority under a duty enforceable by the courts to provide temporary accommodation for persons in urgent need thereof, under section 21 of the National Assist ance Act, 1948, unless the urgent need has been created by an emergency such as fire or flood. [Southwark London Borough Council v. Williams; Same v. Anderson, Court of Appeal. The Times, 17 December, 1970.] A person is not obliged to comment when informed that someone has accused him of an offence and his silence alone cannot give rise to the inference that he has accepted the truth of the accusation. [R. v. Hull Privy Council The Times, 5 Decem ber, 1970.] When a load is carried on an articulated vehicle and the weight is partly borne by the tractor, the tractor is to be disregarded when measuring the overall length for the purpose of determining whether an offence has been committed against regulation III (4) (a) of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, 1969, and section 64 (2) of the Road Traffic Act, 1960, as amended. [A. Stevens & Co. (Haulage) Ltd. v. Brown.] The conviction of a man against whom the evidence was overwhelming was quashed because of improper pressure the trial judge put on him and his counsel to plead Guilty. Their Lordships allowed an appeal by Michael Barnes, of Forest Hill, S.E., who was convicted at the Central Criminal Court (Judge King-Hamilton) in February of robbery and three counts of burglary. He had been sentenced to six years' imprisonment. [R. v. Barnes. Court of Appeal. The Times, E December. 1970.] .