Court of Appeal reduces sentence by half in Fraud case success

Quentin represented Mr VP before the Court of Criminal Appeal in respect of an appeal against sentence. VP had previously appeared at the Snaresbrook Crown Court for sentence, having pleaded guilty to an indictment containing six counts of fraud by false representation.

VP had pleaded guilty to operating a ‘margin business fraud’ - customers would place orders with his websites, attracted by low prices. VP would then place a corresponding order with a legitimate company to be delivered to the customer; the transaction was however paid for using fraudulently obtained credit card details. Suspicions arose in the minds of both customer and the legitimate company when certain transactions failed either through the defectiveness of the goods, or non-delivery. When the legitimate company sought to refund the cardholder, it became apparent that the card details used for their side of the transaction did not correspond with the card details of the genuine cardholder. In turn, the companies reported their suspicions to Action Fraud.

VP had pleaded Guilty on a very narrow basis which had been accepted by the Prosecution; the parties agreed that the total loss as a result of the fraud was £10,668.62. The Judge passed a sentence of two years immediate imprisonment.

Quentin lodged an appeal on behalf of VP that the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive and not in accordance with the fraud sentencing guidelines. Leave to appeal was granted by the Single Judge and the matter was heard by the full court which consisted of Mr Justice Elias and the Recorder of Leeds.

Following oral submissions by Quentin the appeal was allowed by the Court. The sentence of 24 months imprisonment was reduced by half to one of 12 months. This meant that VP was eligible for release on a home detention curfew tag the week after the hearing in the Court of Appeal.

Quentin is a specialist in appeals work and is often called upon to give a second opinion in appeal cases. If you wish to launch an appeal against either conviction or sentence then you may contact Quentin for a free no obligation conversation.