Confiscation order appeal allowed
Planning and Environment, Public Law and Judicial Review
Represented the LB Islington in an appeal against sentence and a confiscation order arising from an enforcement notice prosecution. Instructed in the Crown Court for the POCA hearing, after the conviction had been secured in the Magistrates’ Court for constructing a mansard roof extension materially exceeding the dimensions permitted.
The Crown Court accepted that it could look wider than the offence period in assessing the property obtained as a result of or in connection with the conduct (s.76(4) of POCA) and that Sangha [2009] 2 Cr App R (S) 94 could be applied to make more extensive findings of fact at the confiscation stage, thereby including the rental income from the extended roof extension dating back a number of years.
The Court of appeal disagreed, holding that a court could not extend the meaning of particular criminal conduct beyond the conduct of which a defendant had been convicted, which in this case related to a single day. The fine of £25 000 was upheld.
