Mr GL

Mr GL, a Somali national, was convicted on 20 December 2016 at Central Buckinghamshire Magistrates’ Court of two counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs (cocaine and heroin).  

In February 2017 he was sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court to 28 months’ detention in a Young Offender Institution. The Court of Appeal quashed this sentence in September 2023 and substituted it for a 24-month Detention and Training Order. 

Mr GL pleaded guilty in a Magistrates’ Court, so he had no right to appeal his convictions. The CCRC received an application to review the case in July 2022.  

The CCRC’s review found that there was credible evidence at the time of Mr GL’s arrest, charge and conviction indicating that he was a victim of modern slavery.  

Consistent with the Crown Prosecution Service guidance available at the time, Mr GL should have been referred through the National Referral Mechanism for victim identification.  

Mr GL was not advised that he may have had a statutory defence available to him under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. That defence would probably have succeeded.  

Consequently, there was a real possibility the Crown Court would stay any future prosecution as an abuse of process or, if there were a rehearing, would acquit Mr GL on the basis that a Section 45 defence was made out.  

The CCRC referred the conviction in March 2025.