Clark, Bryan

Bryan Clark was convicted in July 1982 of obtaining pecuniary advantage, theft, obtaining property by deception, and false accounting.

Mr Clark was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with 12 months suspended and was fined £10,000 with 12 months’ imprisonment consecutive in default.

Mr Clark was also made the subject of a criminal bankruptcy order and was disqualified from being concerned in or taking part in the management of a company for four years.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in July 1997.

Following investigation, the CCRC considered that the conviction was materially similar to the facts in the House of Lords judgment in the case of R v Preddy (1996).

Mr Preddy had been convicted of mortgage fraud under section 15 of the Theft Act 1968 which created the offence of obtaining “property of another” by deception.

The type of property fraud practiced by Mr Preddy and others had the effect of inducing the victim (usually a bank or building society) to issue a cheque in favour of the defendant.

In 1996 the House of Lords concluded that although there had been deception, it could not identify any “property of another” obtained by the fraud.

The Lords ruled that Mr Preddy’s conduct in dishonesty was not apt to be prosecuted under that particular section of the Theft Act.

The decision allowed those convicted on similar facts to seek to re-open their convictions.

The CCRC concluded that there was therefore a real possibility the Court of Appeal would quash Mr Clark’s conviction.

The CCRC referred the conviction in September 1999.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in April 2001.