Mr GQ

Mr GQ pleaded guilty and was convicted on 8 July 2016 at Oxford Crown Court of four counts of possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply. He received a sentence of 40 months’ imprisonment.  

Two counts related to offences which took place in May 2016. The other two counts related to offences in June 2016.  

The CCRC received an application for review of his conviction in March 2023. There were exceptional circumstances in this case to justify a referral, even though Mr GQ had not previously appealed.   

In April 2022, the Single Competent Authority (SCA) informed Mr GQ of a Conclusive Grounds Decision that he was a victim of modern slavery for the purpose of forced criminality (“County Lines” drug dealing).  

Section 45(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 provides a complete defence for slavery or trafficking victims who commit offences in specified circumstances.  

The CCRC’s review found no reason to dispute the SCA’s decision to recognise Mr GQ as a victim of slavery and that a section 45 defence would have been available to him at the time of his arrest.  

However, the CCRC found no evidence that this defence was mentioned to Mr GQ at any point, despite information and guidance available at the time indicating that Mr GQ should have been identified as a possible victim of modern slavery, referred into the National Referral Mechanism, and advised of a possible section 45 defence.   

Therefore, there was a real possibility the Court of Appeal would overturn the convictions on the basis that Mr GQ was not advised of this defence which would quite probably have succeeded.  

The CCRC referred the convictions in April 2025.