Law Report: Case Summaries

THESE notes of judgments were prepared by reporters of the All England Law Reports.

Crime

R v Jefferson & ors; CA (Cr Div) (Watkins LJ, Auld, Scott Baker JJ); 15 June 1993.

(1) Offences under the Public Order Act 1986 could be committed by aiders and abettors as well as by principals, since the common law offence of aiding and abetting was applicable to all statutory offences unless specifically excluded. (2) Where a father, who was present at a police interview of a juvenile, occasionally intervened robustly to encourage his son to tell the truth, that behaviour did not affect his status as an 'appropriate adult' for the purposes of s 57 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

Stuart Trimmer, Philip Head and David Lea for the appellants; Michael Pert QC and Arnjad Malik (CPS, Bedford) for the Crown.

R v Wren; CA (Cr Div) (Watkins LJ, Auld, Scott Baker JJ); 29 June 1993.

Where there was the slightest doubt about what issues should be left to the jury in a criminal trial, it was incumbent on the judge to raise the matter with counsel, at the latest before final speeches began, in order that the question could be resolved.

Tristan Chaize, who did not appear below (Registrar of Criminal Appeals) for the appellant; Laurence Alt (CPS, Inner London) for the Crown.

Pollution

Woodhouse v Walsall Metropolitan BC; QB Div Ct (McCowan LJ, Leonard J); 29 July 1993.

Under s87(1) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, the test of whether someone was a 'manager . . . of the body corporate' was not just whether that person was in a position of real authority but also whether he was a decision-maker who had power and responsibility to decide corporate policy and strategy.

Andrew Lydiard (Simmons & Simmons) for the appellant; Timothy Jones for the council.

Children

D v D; CA (Balcombe, Leggatt LJJ, Sir Francis Purchas); 21 July 1993.

During private proceedings between divorced parents under the Children Act 1989, both the police and local authority became aware of the possibility of physical abuse of the children of the family. In such circumstances, even where the judge thought there had been unnecessary interference by the authorities, the jurisdiction of the County Court was entirely statutory under the Act, and s 11 could not be construed as giving the court power to interfere with the public authorities' exercise of their statutory or common law powers. The judge therefore had no jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief against either the police or the local authority.

Michael Smith (Oglethorpe Sturton & Gillibrand, Bentham) for the appellant; Ernest Ryder (J P Mewies, Skipton) for the respondent; Roger McCarthy, who did not appear below (M Lightfoot, County Solicitor) for North Yorks CC and the Chief Constable of North Yorks Constabulary.

Tax

Imperial Chemical Industries plc v Colmer (Inspector of Taxes); CA (Dillon, Stuart Smith, Evans LJJ); 15 July 1993.

The definition of a 'holding company' now in s 413(3) of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 was not limited to a company all of whose subsidiaries were resident in the UK. Group relief claimed for a consortium through a holding company was not lost if the holding company had foreign subsidiaries as well as the UK resident subsidiary whose losses were to be surrendered.

Christopher McCall QC and Rabinder Singh (Inland Revenue Solicitor) for the Crown; Peter Whiteman QC (ICI Group Legal Services) for the taxpayer.

NAP Holdings UK Ltd v Whittles (Inspector of Taxes); CA (Ralph Gibson, Nolan, Hirst LJJ); 9 July 1993.

The provisions for dealing with transfers of assets between members of the same group of companies in s 273 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970, before amendment by the Finance Act 1988, did not apply to share exchanges within a group which fell within ss78 and 85 of the Capital Gains Tax Act 1979. The result of a share exchange between group members followed by the sale of the shares outside the group, all taking place before 15 March 1988, was that the base value of the shares for the purpose of computing a chargeable gain was market value at the time of the share exchange rather than the cost of the shares to the group. Westcott (Inspector of Taxes) v Woolcombers Ltd (1987) 60 TC 575, decided by the Court of Appeal before the 1979 consolidating Act, was not followed.

Andrew Thornhill QC and Kevin Prosser (Ashurst Morris & Crisp) for the taxpayer; Nicholas Warren QC (Inland Revenue Solicitor) for the Crown.

Walters v Tickner (Inspector of Taxes); CA (Lloyd, Mann, Nolan LJJ); 8 July 1993.

Income tax assessed under Sch E in respect of educational sponsorship payments from the Home Office could be appealed even though the assessment was made more than 12 months after the end of the relevant tax year and in accordance with the Revenue's practice. Section 206 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 (also s 206 of the 1988 Act) did not prevent an appeal by a taxpayer if the tax assessed was within the unqualified exemption provided by s 375 of the 1970 Act (now s 331 of the 1988 Act).

Andrew Park QC and Nicholas Warren QC (Inland Revenue Solicitor) for the Crown; Kevin Prosser (Bates Wells & Braithwaite) for the taxpayer.