Coleman, John David

John David Coleman was convicted in July 2003 of intent to defraud creditors of a company and received a sentence of three years’ imprisonment and a confiscation order of £326,412.27 (reduced on appeal to a nominal £1). He was ordered to pay costs of £16,000.

The CCRC received an application for review of the costs order in February 2015.

During review, the CCRC considered case law indicating that a costs order should not be made where a defendant had no means to pay it or where all assets had been made the subject of a confiscation order.

Furthermore, a costs order could be varied at a later stage if a defendant’s financial circumstances changed.

As Mr Coleman had undergone a significant change in circumstances since the date of his sentencing hearing and it was, at the time of review, accepted that he had no assets, the CCRC concluded that there was a real possibility his order for costs would be quashed or substantially reduced.

The CCRC referred the conviction in November 2015.

The Court of Appeal upheld the costs order in October 2016.