Mr CA

Mr CA was convicted in October 2003 of seven counts of indecent assault. Mr CA received a sentence of six years’ imprisonment with four years’ extended licence.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction and sentence in November 2005.

Mr CA was convicted of indecent assault on count 11, which was added to the indictment at the trial as an alternative to rape in the event that the jury considered that lack of consent (or knowledge of the lack of consent) had not been proven.

Following Mr CA’s conviction, the Court of Appeal ruled in R v WR (2005) that, following the House of Lords’ 2004 judgment in R v J, it was unlawful to charge a defendant with indecent assault as an alternative to rape more than 12 months after the offence occurred.

The CCRC further considered that the sentence of six years’ imprisonment on count 11 should be reduced because the sentence should have been calculated by regarding the maximum sentence as the same as that for the offence of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16, namely 2 years’ imprisonment.

The CCRC referred the conviction on count 11 of the indictment and Mr CA’s sentence in February 2007.

The CCRC concluded there was no real possibility the Court of Appeal would quash the convictions on the remaining counts.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction on count 11.