CCRC refers joint enterprise murder conviction to the Court of Appeal

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has referred a man’s “joint enterprise” conviction for murder and violent disorder to the Court of Appeal because of new legal argument and psychiatric evidence. 

Hugo Nwankwo was convicted on 20 December 2012 at the Central Criminal Court of murder and violent disorder. He was 16 at the time of the offences.  He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years. Three of his seven co-defendants were also convicted of murder. 

A 17-year-old male was murdered in the early hours of 15 August 2011 at a private party in a club in Ilford. He died as a result of a single stab wound to the chest. It was the prosecution’s case at trial that the defendants had taken part in a joint enterprise to attack the victim or the victim’s friends. 

A joint enterprise arises where two or more people embark on the commission of an offence, and the law allows for multiple people to be charged with the same offence even though they may have played very different roles in the crime.  

An application for leave to appeal against conviction was refused in April 2014. The CCRC received an application for review of the sentence in February 2021 and a further application for review of the conviction in November 2021.    

On 23 May 2024, the CCRC referred Mr Nwankwo’s sentence to the Court of Appeal because days he had spent in custody on remand and on police bail before trial had not been credited. The Court reduced the sentence in July 2024. 

Following a detailed review, the CCRC has now decided that there is a real possibility Mr Nwankwo’s conviction will not be upheld and is referring it to the Court of Appeal.  

Mr Nwankwo was convicted before the Supreme Court clarified, in the case of R v Jogee [2016] UKSC 8, that the law on joint enterprise had been misapplied for many years, resulting in incorrect jury directions.  

The case has been referred on two grounds, firstly that in this case the pre-Jogee misdirection has caused a substantial injustice, and this is a new argument for this applicant which links to the second ground for referral, which is new psychiatric evidence which would have assisted the jury in assessing Mr Nwankwo’s understanding and behaviour at the time of the offence. 

CCRC Chair Dame Vera Baird KC said: “This is another example of a joint enterprise murder case involving an apparently vulnerable young man in a setting of group violence where the CCRC has identified a new legal argument and new evidence which raises a real possibility of the Court of Appeal overturning the conviction. 

“There is an obvious need for carefully crafted directions to be given to the jury in respect of ‘secondary offenders,’ that is, those who did not inflict the fatal blow to the victim particularly where the case has taken place before the decision in R v Jogee. The CCRC has concerns about that issue here, but has also identified new psychiatric evidence which could have been of real benefit to the jury to assist them in their assessment of Mr Nwankwo’s actions, if it had been available at trial.” 

[ENDS] 

Notes to Editors: 

1. The CCRC is an independent body set up under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995. It is responsible for independently reviewing suspected and alleged miscarriages of criminal justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is based in Birmingham and is funded by the Ministry of Justice.     

2. There are currently ten Commissioners who bring to the CCRC considerable experience from a wide variety of backgrounds. Commissioners are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Prime Minister in accordance with the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice.  

3. The CCRC usually receives around 1,500 applications for reviews (convictions and/or sentences) each year. Since starting work in 1997, the CCRC has referred around 3% of applications to the appeal courts.     

4. The CCRC considers whether, as a result of new evidence or argument, there is a real possibility that the conviction would not be upheld were a reference to be made. New evidence or argument is argument or evidence which has not been raised during the trial or on appeal.  Applicants should usually have appealed first. A case can be referred in the absence of new evidence or argument or an earlier appeal only if there are “exceptional circumstances”.       

5. If a case is referred, it is then for the appeal court to decide whether the conviction is unsafe.     

6. More details about the role and work of the Criminal Cases Review Commission can be found at www.ccrc.gov.uk. The CCRC can be found on X, Facebook, Instagram (@the_ccrc) and Linkedin.