Monks, Geoffrey

Geoffrey Monks was convicted before Magistrates’ Court in October 1999 of six offences under the Food Safety Act 1990. He pleaded guilty to one offence and contested the remainder. He was fined a total of £25,500 and ordered to pay £8,300 costs with four months’ imprisonment in default.

He appealed his conviction and sentence. In October 2000 the Crown Court upheld Mr Monks’ convictions for the offences but reduced his fines to a total of £13,500. He applied to the CCRC in June 2007.

Following review, the CCRC concluded that there was a real possibility the Crown Court would stay the proceedings as an abuse of process or, on rehearing, that the Court would acquit Mr Monks on some or all of the charges.

Mr Monks was later prosecuted for offences under the Food Safety Act 1990 in respect of two other food premises he operated. The Crown Court in July 2003 stayed those proceedings as being an abuse of process.

Although not binding on any subsequent Crown Court appeal hearing for the 1999 convictions, in view of the commonality of features the CCRC considered that this new information provided a basis for the Crown Court to revisit the 1999 convictions.

In addition, the CCRC found that the courts had previously been given, either deliberately or inadvertently, misleading information when considering an argument that a delay in bringing a prosecution for the 1999 convictions was an abuse of process.

There was also new evidence which cast doubt on the credibility of the evidence of prosecution witnesses.

The CCRC referred the conviction in March 2015.

The Crown Court quashed the conviction in September 2015.