Tag Archives: admission

Offences taken into consideration (‘TICs’)

What are offences taken into consideration or ‘TICs’?

These are offences taken into consideration at the time of sentencing.  These ‘TICs’ are not offences that are charged.

When will a person be asked about them?

 Where someone has pleaded guilty to an offence or offences, or is expected to do so, or are due to be sentenced after trial, a person can admit other matters so that they can be offences taken into consideration at that sentencing hearing.

As well as a person volunteering offences, the police may also approach them to ask if they want to accept any TICs.  It is crucial that free and independent legal advice is obtained at this stage as there are consequences and risks to having offences taken into consideration on sentence.

What happens if I want to admit TICs?

 You will be spoken to under caution.  If you do admit other offences and the police and prosecution agree, a schedule of the offences will offences taken into considerationbe prepared and placed before the court.

It is then for the court to decide whether or not to take them into account when you are sentenced.

The positive side of such a process is that the court will consider the fact that you have assisted the police and shown a genuine desire to “wipe the slate clean”.  This will support any suggestion of genuine remorse for any offending.  More can be found about such mitigation here.

Additionally, the police will no longer be searching for the person responsible for these offences so there will be no risk of future arrests and sentence.

Offences taken into consideration will make a difference to your sentence.  Any sentence will be longer as a result of the TICs,  Any increase, however, may not be as much as if you were sentenced separately for those offences.

The negative consequences of TICs

On the negative side, the acceptance of offences taken into consideration may result in a greatly increased sentence.  They will be treated as an aggravating feature of your offending.  This will be especially true if there is a large number of TICs.

The total sentence imposed has to reflect all of the offending behaviour.

A defendant can also be ordered to pay compensation in relation to TICs.

offences taken into considerationFinally, it may be that the offences might never have been linked to any suspect.  As a result, a defendant may be admitting more than could ever be proved.  As a result there will be a trade off between peace of mind as against looking over your shoulder wondering whether your past will catch up with you.

Wiping the slate clean

If you wish to wipe the slate clean it is important to ensure that all outstanding offences are admitted, otherwise you may not receive any discount if a future prosecution is brought.

In the recent case of Murray [2018] EWCA Crim 1252 the court observed (citing an earlier case of McLean [2017] EWCA Crim 170):

“It seems to us however that this appellant must have made a conscious choice not to disclose the July 2014 matter in the hope that it would go undetected. In those circumstances he cannot now claim to be sentenced as if both matters should have been dealt with together in January 2015. To permit that to happen at this stage would be unjust to the public interest in giving the appellant an undeserved, uncovenanted bonus. This case therefore is a salutary illustration of the benefits which can accrue to offenders from making voluntary admissions of additional offending and the risks that they run if they choose not to do so.”

What sort of offences can be TIC’d?

 Similar offending is likely to be accepted as a TIC. An offence is unlikely to be accepted as a TIC if –

  • it is an admission to an offence more serious than the one you have pleaded guilty to;
  • it is an offence that would attract disqualification or penalty points on conviction;
  • if it is an offence committed in breach of an earlier sentence;
  • where it is an offence completely dissimilar to the one charged; or
  • where it is a specified offence when the charged offence is not.

If further offences are admitted will they definitely be offences taken into consideration?

 Not necessarily.

Admissions in the circumstances above may lead to further criminal charges being brought against a defendant.  This is why it is important to seek free and independent legal advice.

How can we help in these circumstances?

Any advice as to whether to accept TICs or not is likely to be dependent on both your personal circumstances and the offences involved.

If we are already representing you then we will be able to take your instructions and provide you with advice on the likely effect of admitting further offences to be taken into consideration.

Where we do not currently act for you and you want our expert advice then please contact your nearest office.  Our independent legal advice in police interview will always be free of charge to you under the criminal legal aid scheme.

 

Prosecution Res Gestae Argument fails at Derby Magistrates’ Court

Derby crime solicitor John Young recently represented  a client alleged to have assaulted his partner.  Success hinged on a prosecution res gestae argument.

The prosecution allegation

The complainant alleged that an incident had taken place outside her home address early in the morning.  Our client’s vehicle was said to have been parked outside at the time.

It was alleged that our client had pushed the complainant into the road causing her to fall over.  She alleged that this resulted in two broken bones in her foot. Our client was also alleged to have threatened to kill her whilst threatening her with a screwdriver.  He was said to have snatched her mobile phone from her and then left the scene.

Denied allegations

John’s client denied the allegations. He accepted that he had been at the scene but maintained that the complainant was the aggressor. Our client then described how she had tried to hit him but had fallen over in the process, landing in the road. He denied that he had made any physical contact with her.

Our client provided an explanation explaining why he was in possession of the mobile phone and the screwdriver.

In the event the victim declined to provide a forma statement to the police.  She did not support the prosecution.  The allegation as set out above was set out in the complainant’s first contact with the police.

Prosecution depended on res gestae argument

Despite the lack of a formal complaint,  our client was charged.  The prosecution case was to be based on a 999 call made twenty minutes after the incident was said to have taken place.  CCTV footage showed the delay in making the call.

Bodycam footage from police officers captured an initial complaint but this was nearly fifty minutes after the incident. There was a statement from a delivery driver who saw the complainant falling the road.  He  could not say how or why she fell.

As no-one saw the incident aside from the complainant and the defendant, the prosecution had to rely on hearsay evidence to try and secure a conviction.  This evidence would come from the 999 call and the bodycam footage.  Surprisingly, the prosecution did not make an application to admit this hearsay evidence prior to the trial date.

At the beginning of the trial the prosecution made clear the basis upon which they were presenting their case and made the hearsay application.  The prosecution conceded that if the application was unsuccessful then the prosecution could not proceed.

Problems with the hearsay evidence

There were several problems with the res gestae argument:

  • the bodycam footage showed that by the time the police arrived the victim was not “so emotionally overpowered” that the possibility of concoction or distortion could be disregarded
  • During the 999 call the complainant initially stated her leg was broken.  after questioning the operator establish that the victim only believed this because her leg was ‘painful’
  • It was clear from the bodycam footage that the leg was not broken.
  • During the 999 call the complainant alleged that she had taken the screwdriver from the client in order to stop him stabbing her with it.  Police evidence showed that the screwdriver had been recovered from the client’s vehicle when he was arrested
  • The timing of the incident showed that the complainant’s suggestion that this had been a chance encounter could not be true.
  • The CCTV footage showed that the complainant was not telling the truth when she said she had been assisted by a stranger while she lay in the road.
  • The footage also showed that, despite her allegation, she had not been swung around and then pushed by our client.
  • There were further significant differences between the accounts given in the 999 call on captured on bodycam footage.

A detailed analysis of the evidence by the defence

John’s detailed analysis of the evidence meant that he was able to use all of the above features of the case to argue against the admission of this purported res gestae evidence.  This included a thorough understanding of the timeline in the case and all of the inconsistencies between the different parts of the evidence.

He argued that it would be wrong to conclude that the complainant was so emotionally overpowered that there could not have been concoction or distortion.

The Magistrates agreed with John’s submissions.  They refused to allow the Crown’s application to admit any of this evidence under section 118(1)(a) Criminal Justice Act 2003 and the relevant case law.

Once the Crown’s res gestae argument had been refused the Prosecution accepted that they had no further evidence to place before the Court.  No evidence was offered and the charge was dismissed.

Some more information about Res Gestae and hearsay evidence can be found here.

Defendant’s Costs Order Made

Our client was not financially eligible for Legal Aid.  He had funded the matter privately.  John successfully applied for a Defendant’s Costs Order which permitted recovery of a proportion of the private costs paid.

Contact Derby Crime Solicitor John Young

crime solicitor res gestae argument
Derby crime solicitor John Young

If you face allegations before the Magistrates’ court you will need an experienced solicitor with an eye to detail to ensure that your best case is placed before the court.

You will also want to instruct a solicitor who understands all of the relevant law and is fully prepared to make the arguments that you need to win your case.  This will particularly be the case if there is to be a difficult res gestae argument.

Please telephone John Young for an appointment on 01332 546818 or use the contact form below.

Contact