Childs (Aka Greenfield), R. v
2014
COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
United Kingdom
CORAM
- LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND AND WALES
- Mr JUSTICE MITTING and
- Sir RODERICK EVANS
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
2014
COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The applicant, sentenced for six murders and other related crimes in 1979, sought to appeal out of time in 2012 based on new expert evidence suggesting severe personality disorders. The court assessed whether this evidence rendered his confessions and pleas unreliable and concluded that his convictions were safe, rejecting the appeal.
Judgment
Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, CJ:
Introduction
Over 30 years ago, on 4 December 1979 the applicant, pleaded guilty before Lawson J at the Central Criminal Court to six murders committed between 1974 and 1978. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. The judge stated he would make no recommendation as to a minimum term; in his letter to the Home Secretary, he explained he had not done so because the applicant was to give evidence for the Crown against his co-accused, MacKenney and Pinfold. A few days later on 20 December 1979, the applicant pleaded guilty at the Crown Court at St Alban’s to robbery, asking for 25 further offences to be taken into consideration; those offences included conspiracies to murder, arson and robbery, possession of firearms and causing grievous bodily harm with intent; he received a sentence of 6 years imprisonment concurrent with the life sentences. He was represented at all times by Richard du Cann QC and Stephen Batten (now one of her Majesty’s Counsel) who were instructed by Edward Fail, Bradshaw and Waterson, then, as now, a very distinguished firm of solicitors specialising in criminal law.
On 14 February 2012, the applicant sought leave to appeal out of time and the necessary extension of time of 32 years. The appeal was based on fresh evidence from Professor Gudjohnson and Dr Somekh who provided reports that stated that the applicant had severe personality disorders such that nothing he said, including the confessions and pleas he had made to the murders and other offences, could be relied on as truthful, unless corroborated. The applicant also relied on the fact that this court, on a reference from the Criminal Cases Review Commission, had on 15 December 2003 quashed the convictions of his co-accused, MacKenney and Pinfold, who had been convicted of murder in 1980 on the basis of the applicant’s evidence. This court did so having heard the evidence of Dr Somekh as to the unreliability of the applicant.
The Single Judge referred the application to the Full Court. At a hearing on 28 November 2013 we determined we would first consider whether the fresh expert medical evidence and the evidence of Mr Batten QC, if admitted, would establish that the pleas made by the applicant might be unreliable. If the expert medical evidence and the evidence of Mr Batten QC showed that the pleas might be unreliable unless corroborated, then we would consider whether on all the evidence, and in particular the evidence of the prosecution