Joint Enterprises
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| Gary Dobson and David Norris I was interested in this recent article from The Independent which reports that MPs at Westminster are concerned that criminals convicted under the law of joint enterprise may have been harshly treated in the sense that if they didn't actually wield the knife then, possibly, they should be considered guilty of a lesser crime than murder.
Now while I can follow this argument, in some circumstances at least, I have to say I think it's a whole old of old bollix because the murderers of Stephen Lawrence, for example, acted as a racist gang, egging one another on, effectively acting as a pack.
So the significance of who did what exactly is much less important than the fact that without this empowering gang or pack mentality, the crime would never have been committed in the first place.
Gary Dobson and David Norris have been sent to prison for the murder of Stephen Lawrence, but have always maintained their innocence and have refused to implicate other members of their gang who remain free to this day.
If you ask me the law of joint enterprise is a good one and far from rowing back on its impact on criminals, I would be firmly in favour of extending the principle into other areas of the criminal justice and civil legal system.
Three men convicted of murder under joint enterprise law gain right to appeal after fourth man's confession
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Exclusive: Admission means there is a 'real possibility' the Court of Appeal will consider the convictions unsafe
By PAUL PEACHEY - The Independent
Three murderers convicted under the controversial law of joint enterprise have won the right to appeal – after a fellow gang member confessed he was the one who actually stabbed the victim to death.
All four were jailed for life for the murder of a man who was found with more than 30 stab and slash wounds – even though they had not been armed with knives when they turned up for the prearranged fight between rival Sri Lankan Tamil groups in London.
The case is the first referred to the Court of Appeal after MPs from the Justice Committee called this month for a review of the use of joint enterprise – which allows several people to be charged with the same offence even though they may have played very different roles. The MPs said that they were concerned that “minor players” had been convicted of murder.
The four – Aziz Miah, Asif Kumbay, Kirush Nanthakumar and Vabeesan Sivarajah – lost an appeal against their conviction in 2009. They had all denied murdering Prabaskaran Kannan, 28, and accused each other of doing it.
Since the ruling, the oldest of the group, Sivarajah, claimed that he alone wielded the knife and was responsible for stabbing Mr Kannan some 20 times in June 2007.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said the admission meant there was a “real possibility” the Court of Appeal would consider the convictions unsafe.
“The referral is made on the basis of new evidence relating to who inflicted the fatal wounds on the victim and which, if it had been available at trial, might have led the jury to come to different verdicts,” in relation to the three, the CCRC said.
“The use of the joint enterprise principle in this case was extreme and in my view most unjust,” said Michael Birnbaum, QC, who represented the three men. “Here the attackers intended to use only a cricket bat and bottles. It was the victims who seized two large knives.
“But by defining the joint enterprise as being a plan to use ‘whatever weapons came to hand’, the Court of Appeal was able to uphold convictions of four people regardless of whether any of them had actually done anything to assist in the stabbing.”
The four were part of a nine-strong group who travelled from Croydon to their rivals’ turf in nearby Tooting, south London. The Croydon group arrived in Tooting in the early hours in two cars and found a group of three of their rivals coming out of a shop. As they were being chased through a chicken shop, the three jumped over the counter and grabbed two knives from behind it and fled out the back of the shop.
They were cornered in a yard and disarmed. One of the knives was turned on Mr Kannan, who was stabbed and slashed. The four men – all aged between 18 and 22 at the time of their trial – all pleaded not guilty but were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Two other men were cleared of murder.
The Government says it is examining the recommendations of the Justice Committee, which said lesser charges should be considered against those who played a lesser role in a murder.
Three murderers convicted under the controversial law of joint enterprise have won the right to appeal – after a fellow gang member confessed he was the one who actually stabbed the victim to death.
All four were jailed for life for the murder of a man who was found with more than 30 stab and slash wounds – even though they had not been armed with knives when they turned up for the prearranged fight between rival Sri Lankan Tamil groups in London.
The case is the first referred to the Court of Appeal after MPs from the Justice Committee called this month for a review of the use of joint enterprise – which allows several people to be charged with the same offence even though they may have played very different roles. The MPs said that they were concerned that “minor players” had been convicted of murder.
The four – Aziz Miah, Asif Kumbay, Kirush Nanthakumar and Vabeesan Sivarajah – lost an appeal against their conviction in 2009. They had all denied murdering Prabaskaran Kannan, 28, and accused each other of doing it.
Since the ruling, the oldest of the group, Sivarajah, claimed that he alone wielded the knife and was responsible for stabbing Mr Kannan some 20 times in June 2007.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said the admission meant there was a “real possibility” the Court of Appeal would consider the convictions unsafe.
“The referral is made on the basis of new evidence relating to who inflicted the fatal wounds on the victim and which, if it had been available at trial, might have led the jury to come to different verdicts,” in relation to the three, the CCRC said.
“The use of the joint enterprise principle in this case was extreme and in my view most unjust,” said Michael Birnbaum, QC, who represented the three men. “Here the attackers intended to use only a cricket bat and bottles. It was the victims who seized two large knives.
“But by defining the joint enterprise as being a plan to use ‘whatever weapons came to hand’, the Court of Appeal was able to uphold convictions of four people regardless of whether any of them had actually done anything to assist in the stabbing.”
The four were part of a nine-strong group who travelled from Croydon to their rivals’ turf in nearby Tooting, south London. The Croydon group arrived in Tooting in the early hours in two cars and found a group of three of their rivals coming out of a shop. As they were being chased through a chicken shop, the three jumped over the counter and grabbed two knives from behind it and fled out the back of the shop.
They were cornered in a yard and disarmed. One of the knives was turned on Mr Kannan, who was stabbed and slashed. The four men – all aged between 18 and 22 at the time of their trial – all pleaded not guilty but were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Two other men were cleared of murder.
The Government says it is examining the recommendations of the Justice Committee, which said lesser charges should be considered against those who played a lesser role in a murder.
Double Acts (23 October 2014)
The most surprising thing to me about this report from The Telegraph is not that people are cheating the welfare system, but that their accomplices are not charged as well for participating in a 'joint enterprise' to defraud and steal from the public purse.
Because there's no way that Helen Knight wasn't up to her neck in the various scams being perpetrated by her husband, but Alan Knight appears to be the only member of this 'double act' who has gone on trial in court.
Yet surely Mrs Knight is every bit as guilty as her old man.
Conman pretended to be quadriplegic for two years but was caught walking around Tesco
Alan Knight, 47, insisted for two years that he was too ill to stand trial for conning his elderly neighbour out of £40,000, a court hears
Alan Knight in a posed-for picture with his wife Helen Photo: Wales News Service
By Keith Perry - The Telegraph
A fraudster who pretended to be a quadriplegic who would slip into a coma was caught taking shopping trips and holidays with his family.
Alan Knight, 47, insisted for two years that he was too ill to stand trial for conning his elderly neighbour out of £40,000, a court heard.
He was living on benefits having claimed to have suffered a massive neck injury. But police found CCTV footage of him walking around Tesco stores and driving his car back from Dorset.
Knight finally appeared in court on Tuesday and admitted cheating the pensioner, 85, who has dementia and is now being cared for in a home.
Knight was living at home in Swansea after claiming to have snapped his neck falling backwards as he pulled down a garage door. His wife Helen, 33, claimed she had to care for her husband.
But he had been targeting neighbour Ivor Richards’s life savings and shares over a three-year period.
He “systematically” funnelled £41,570 out of the pensioner’s bank account which he used to pay for holidays and to buy a caravan in Dorset, Swansea Crown Court heard.
When prosecutors attempted to bring him to justice, Knight repeatedly claimed to be too ill to stand trial, even having himself hooked up to oxygen.
But the father-of-three was caught on CCTV at the Severn bridge toll on the M4 as he travelled back from the south coast. He was also spotted on film in Tesco stores close to his home and in Dorset after police traced the use of the family’s loyalty club card.
Officers tried “at least twice” to bring him to court but each time he admitted himself to hospital claiming his condition had worsened. The court was told he had “pulled the wool” over his GP’s eyes but he was unable to fool doctors at the hospital. While he was there for observation they spotted him eating, wiping his face and writing.
Knight was told he would stand trial with or without his attendance and finally appeared in court in a wheelchair and neck brace.
He admitted theft and forgery, relating to writing a new will for Mr Richards making himself a beneficiary, and was remanded in custody. He was told he is “likely” to be jailed.
Judge Paul Thomas said: “His appearance in court now is at variance with his appearance in CCTV footage. Aspects of this case in my experience are unique, and a strong message needs to be sent out to anyone who seeks to adopt similar tactics.
“Having seen the CCTV evidence from Tesco and driving the car, I have come to the conclusion he is putting it on. Attempts to make progress have been thwarted by Mr Knight pretending to be ill.
“Although a very accomplished and determined actor, he is in nothing like the condition he claims to be, and the conditions he claims to be suffering from are simply non-existent.
“His illnesses coincide with impending court appearances. I do not believe the symptoms are genuine.
“He has been monitored, despite attempts to maintain the fiction. He was seen wiping his face and writing things down, which are inconsistent with being paraplegic or in a coma.”
Knight is due to be sentenced next month.
