Bargery, Paul

Paul Bargery was convicted in July 1997 of threatening behaviour and received a 150 hours community service order and a £200 costs order.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in September 1998.

Mr Bargery, a university student, had obtained summer employment as a security guard at a holiday camp.

He was charged with affray alongside his co-defendant, Charles Craggs, following a complaint that they had ejected intruders on the camp with undue force.

Shortly before trial, the Crown offered a lesser charge of threatening behaviour in return for a guilty plea but Mr Bargery informed his counsel that he would resist this charge and establish his innocence.

Mr Craggs then informed his counsel that he was prepared not only to accept this deal but to assist his own position further by giving evidence against Mr Bargery.

In addition, the judge held a meeting with both counsel in chambers (without a transcript) in which he offered a non-custodial sentence if guilty pleas were entered to the offence of threatening behaviour.

The judge declined to give any such indication if Mr Bargery insisted on standing trial.

This put substantial pressure on Mr Bargery who would likely have lost his university place if sent to prison.

Mr Bargery subsequently decided to plead guilty to the lesser offence.

Following review, the CCRC concluded that the court’s previous invocations against plea-bargaining had not been heeded.

Trial judges had been instructed by the court not have untranscribed discussions with counsel in chambers concerning sentencing and not to offer “trade-offs” of this kind, yet both had occurred in this case.

The CCRC referred the conviction in December 2002 on the grounds that Mr Bargery’s guilty plea had not been entered freely and/or was equivocal.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in March 2004.