Two boys aged 11 and 12 set fire to newspapers near wheelie bins at a Co‑op, accidentally causing a £1m blaze. Applying Caldwell’s objective recklessness test they were convicted of arson. The House of Lords quashed their convictions and overruled Caldwell for Criminal Damage Act offences, restoring a subjective recklessness test requiring awareness of risk.
A fraudster used fake insurance websites to dupe victims into paying money into bank accounts opened by the respondent. The Supreme Court held that money obtained by fraud became criminal property on receipt, so a section 328 POCA arrangement to retain it was chargeable.
A locum surgeon was convicted of deception offences under the Theft Act 1968 for falsely claiming fees. The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal and established the two-stage test for dishonesty combining objective and subjective elements, later known as the Ghosh test.
Gnango and a rival youth engaged in a public shoot-out in a south London car park. A passer-by, Magda Pniewska, was killed by the rival’s bullet. The Supreme Court held that Gnango was guilty of her murder, clarifying joint enterprise and transferred malice.
Mark Golds killed his partner with a knife and admitted the killing, raising diminished responsibility. The Supreme Court considered the meaning of 'substantially impaired' under section 2 Homicide Act 1957 (as amended), holding it requires significant impairment, not merely more than trivial.
The appellant pleaded guilty to bigamy after marrying while honestly believing his previous marriage had been dissolved by Decree Absolute. The Court of Appeal held that an honest and reasonable mistaken belief in facts that would make a second marriage lawful is a valid defence to bigamy, departing from R v Wheat.
Ms Evans, a prisoner, was detained 59 days beyond her correct release date due to a miscalculation based on earlier Divisional Court authority. The House of Lords held the detention unlawful and confirmed that false imprisonment is a strict liability tort, making the State liable in damages despite the governor’s good faith reliance on precedent.
Guraj pleaded guilty to drug supply and money laundering. The judge sentenced him, made forfeiture orders, then postponed confiscation. After prosecution delays and procedural breaches, a confiscation order was made. The Supreme Court held jurisdiction survived absent unfairness to the defendant.
Striking miners Hancock and Shankland dropped heavy concrete from a bridge onto a taxi carrying a working miner, killing the driver. Initially convicted of murder, they had their convictions reduced to manslaughter. The House of Lords upheld this and held that the Moloney jury directions on intention, based on “natural” consequences, were defective without explicit reference to probability.
Jack Harvey was convicted of handling stolen goods used in his plant hire company. The Supreme Court held that, although VAT accounted for to HMRC was technically 'obtained' under POCA, including it in a confiscation order would be disproportionate under A1P1, allowing his appeal.
Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo were convicted of conspiracy to defraud for attempting to manipulate LIBOR and EURIBOR benchmark interest rates to benefit their derivatives trading. The Supreme Court allowed their appeals, finding that trial judges wrongly directed juries that taking account of trading advantage necessarily meant submissions were not genuine opinions as a matter of law, when this was a factual question for the jury.
Three appellants were convicted of conspiracy to counterfeit half sovereigns. They argued that the Coinage Offences Act 1936 required proof of dishonest intent to defraud. The House of Lords held that the offence under section 1(1)(a) required only basic intent to produce counterfeit coins, not specific intent to defraud.
Bennett, a New Zealand citizen wanted for fraud offences in England, alleged he was kidnapped in South Africa and forcibly returned to the UK with the connivance of British police, bypassing extradition procedures. The House of Lords held that courts have power to stay proceedings as an abuse of process where authorities have disregarded extradition procedures.
Mr Hughes, uninsured and without a full licence but driving faultlessly, was involved in a fatal collision entirely caused by another driver’s dangerous, drug‑impaired driving. The Supreme Court held that section 3ZB requires some culpable element in the defendant’s driving which contributes to the death.
Hunter and Smith operated a ticket touting business using bots and false identities to bulk-purchase tickets in breach of vendors' terms, then resold them at inflated prices on secondary websites without warning consumers of cancellation risks. Their convictions for fraudulent trading under s.993 Companies Act 2006 were upheld, establishing that systematic deception in ticket resale constitutes criminal fraud.
The Supreme Court and Privy Council jointly reviewed the doctrine of parasitic accessory liability established in Chan Wing-Siu, holding that the courts had taken a wrong turn 30 years earlier. Foresight of a secondary offence is evidence of intent, not a substitute for it.
The respondent was convicted in 1992 of offences including those under the Insolvency Act 1986, with evidence obtained through compulsory examination admitted at trial. He sought to rely on the Human Rights Act 1998 retrospectively to challenge his conviction on appeal. The House of Lords held that section 22(4) of the 1998 Act did not permit retrospective reliance on Convention rights in appeals against pre-commencement convictions.
Kennedy supplied heroin and prepared a syringe used by Bosque, an adult of sound mind, who voluntarily injected himself and died. The House of Lords held that self-injection by a fully informed adult breaks the chain of causation, so unlawful act manslaughter was not made out and the conviction was quashed.
Police secretly attached a listening device to a private house, recording the appellant admitting involvement in heroin importation. Despite the evidence being obtained through civil trespass and without statutory authority, the House of Lords held it was admissible. The case confirmed that improperly obtained evidence remains admissible subject to judicial discretion.
Megan Lee, aged 15, died after eating a takeaway from Royal Spice containing peanuts, despite her friend noting 'nuts, prawns' when ordering. The owner, unaware of the allergy declaration, was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter but the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction.
K, aged 26, was charged with indecent assault on a 14-year-old girl under section 14(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 1956. He claimed she said she was 16. The House of Lords held that an honest belief the victim was 16 or over was a defence.
Two parents were charged with terrorism funding for sending money overseas. Before trial, the Supreme Court had to interpret "has reasonable cause to suspect" in section 17 Terrorism Act 2000, holding it sets an objective suspicion test, not requiring actual suspicion.
Customs and an informer arranged a controlled heroin importation from Pakistan and lured Shahzad and Latif to England, where they sought to take delivery and were arrested. The House of Lords upheld their convictions, clarifying abuse of process, entrapment, and the scope of section 170(2) CEMA.
The respondent was convicted of murder on retrial after the Court of Appeal quashed his original conviction. However, he was never arraigned on the fresh indictment as required by section 8(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968. The Supreme Court held that failure to comply with procedural requirements in section 8(1) does not deprive the Crown Court of jurisdiction to conduct a retrial, overruling previous Court of Appeal authority.
The Supreme Court considered whether section 41(4) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 precludes exceptions to restraint orders for legal expenses in civil proceedings founded on similar facts to the criminal offence. The Court held such expenses are not precluded, as they do not 'relate to' the criminal offence.
October 4, 2026
National Case Law Archive
October 4, 2026
National Case Law Archive
October 4, 2026
National Case Law Archive