Muff, Stuart

Stuart Muff was convicted in June 1988 of unlawful possession of a firearm and received a sentence of four months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

The CCRC received an application for review of the conviction in June 2003.

Mr Muff had been charged with violating a lifetime ban on possession of a firearm (as a consequence of an earlier conviction for a firearms offence). He pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court.

However, this plea was entered on an incorrect legal and factual basis.

As Mr Muff’s earlier sentence had been reduced on appeal from four years to three, one of the preconditions for the making of a lifetime ban had in fact fallen.

This point had been missed by all concerned at the time of trial.

The CCRC referred the conviction in December 2003.

The Crown Court quashed the conviction in January 2004.