Johnson & Ors, R v, Court of Appeal - Criminal Division, April 03, 2009, [2009] EWCA Crim 649

Extract

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Johnson & Ors, R v, Court of Appeal - Criminal Division, April 03, 2009, [2009] EWCA Crim 649

Neutral Citation Number: [2009] EWCA Crim 649

Case No: 2008/01347/2008/01356/2008/01354/2008/01351/2008/01348/C2

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE

COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)

Royal Courts of Justice

Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

Date: 03/04/2009

Before :

LORD JUSTICE MAURICE KAY

MR JUSTICE STADLEN

and

MR JUSTICE HOLROYDE

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Between :

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| |JOHNSON & ORS | |

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Mr Michael Parroy QC for O’Loughlin

Miss Tracy Ayling QC for Chad Johnson

Mr Paul Dunkels QC for Nicholls

Mr Mark Evans QC for Albi Johnson

Mr Alun Jenkins QC for Ricky Johnson

Mr Paul Reid and Mr Simon Burns for the Crown

Hearing date : 4 March 2009

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Judgment

Lord Justice Maurice Kay :

1. On 11 February 2008 in the Crown Court at Reading Danny O’Loughlin, Richard ‘Chad’ Johnson, Ricky Stephen Samuel Johnson, Michael Nicholls and Albi Johnson were convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal. They were sentenced to substantial terms of imprisonment. O’Loughlin and Chad Johnson (as we shall refer to him, in order to avoid confusion) also pleaded guilty to an offence of handling stolen goods. All except Ricky Johnson have leave to appeal against conviction. Ricky Johnson was refused leave by the single Judge but now renews his application. Some of those who have leave also seek to renew their applications in relation to grounds upon which they were refused leave by the single Judge.

2. Between 9 April 2005 and 25 April 2006 sixteen burglaries were carried out at large country houses and commercial premises in or just outside the triangle bordered by the M4, the M5 and the M40. They were notable for the quantities and value of the items that were stolen including, in particular, antiques, silver, porcelain and jewellery. At trial, the case for the prosecution was that the 16 burglaries were manifestations of a single conspiracy. There was and is a close relationship between the five men charged with the conspiracy. Ricky Johnson is the father of Chad Johnson and Albi Johnson. O’Loughlin and Nicholls are related to the Johnsons by marriage. At the material time, O’Loughlin, Chad Johnson and Nicholls were living at the Cleeve Prior travellers’ site near Stratford on Avon. Ricky Johnson was a frequent visitor to the site. The allegation was that Cleeve Prior was the main base of the conspiracy. The five men all had close and detailed knowledge of the area within which the burglaries occurred and also had a close network of local contact...

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