Mr F

On 19 June 2017, Mr F, then aged 14, was convicted of murder, wounding with intent and attempting to wound with intent following a trial at the Central Criminal Court.

The trial related to a series of incidents in which three young men were attacked with knives in South Harrow on 18 November 2016.

The prosecution case was that Mr F and three others had taken part in a joint plan to commit a serious act of revenge violence. They alleged that, although Mr F had not been directly involved in the attacks on the victims, he had provided “assistance and encouragement” and thus was guilty by way of “joint enterprise”.

Mr F received a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years (reduced to 10 years on appeal).

Mr F’s application for leave to appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal in 2018. He applied to the CCRC in March 2019.

The CCRC decided to refer these convictions on the basis of new expert psychological evidence which indicated that Mr F had Autism Spectrum Disorder and a number of accompanying vulnerabilities and traits.

In the CCRC’s view, had this new evidence been available at Mr F’s trial, it might reasonably have had a material effect on the jury’s assessment of his credibility and, ultimately, their verdicts.

The new evidence would have also ensured that Mr F received the assistance and safeguards he required throughout the course of the trial so as to ensure his effective participation with the trial process.

The CCRC referred the conviction in February 2021.

The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in November 2021.