R v Flore & Anor
2014
COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
United Kingdom
CORAM
- LORD JUSTICE ELIAS
- MR JUSTICE SWEENEY
- MR JUSTICE GREEN
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Sentencing Law
2014
COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Ioana Flore and Ionut Bura, Romanian nationals, pleaded guilty to possession of articles for use in fraud. Both men were initially sentenced to detention terms reflecting a deterrent element for the crime's supposed endemic nature in London. On appeal, it was concluded that deterrent sentences must have evidence of the crime's local prevalence. The sentences were reduced: Flore's to 10 months and Bura's to 8 months.
J U D G M E N T
MR JUSTICE GREEN:
There are before the court two appeals with leave of the single judge. The first appellant, Ioana Flore ("Flore"), pleaded guilty to one count of possession of articles for use in fraud contrary to section 6(1) of the Fraud Act 2006. He was sentenced to 12 months' detention. The maximum sentence for this offence is 5 years' imprisonment. Flore has one previous conviction for fraud and related offences. In June 2011 he was convicted of possessing controlled articles for use in fraud and was sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order, a curfew requirement for 12 weeks with electronic tagging and a requirement that he attend an attendance centre for 36 hours. Ionut Bura ("Bura") also pleaded guilty to the same offences and was sentenced to 10 months' detention.
The facts may by summarised quite briefly. The appellants are Romanian nationals. On 22nd November 2013 they were spotted by police in a Vauxhall Astra motor vehicle in Hanover Street, London. Flore was the driver of the car which was said to belong to his uncle. Bura was the front seat passenger. Police stopped the vehicle upon the basis that they had grounds to suspect that it had previously been used in the course of crime. The appellants were searched, as was the vehicle. On Flore the police found a Sainsbury's gift card which the police suspected may have had credit card details copied to the magnetic strip. The card was taken to a nearby ATM and the officers' suspicions were confirmed. That exercise demonstrated that the magnetic strip had been compromised and some third party's bank details had been added to it. On Bura's iphone, in the notes section, were entries containing sequences of four numbers. The police suspected that these were stolen PIN numbers. In the footwell of the vehicle police found a metal scraper and two bottles of glue. In the glove compartment they found double sided sticky tape. A second metal scraper was found in the pocket on the back of the front passenger seat. Both men were arrested.
At the police station a more detailed search was conducted. In the pocket of the body warmer of Bura was found an electronic slotted card reading device. It is clear, as the judge observed, that both men were equipped to engage in card fraud. They did not however make any admissions at the police station. Bura said in interview that he had only recently found the item in the body warmer and had no knowledge of how it got there and he had no knowledge o