Accessory After the Fact

Question 1

What are the elements of s71 Accessory after the Fact?

Answer 1

s71 Accessory After the Fact
Knowing any person to have been a party to the offence.
Receives, comforts, or assists that person or tampers with or actively suppresses any evidence against him.
In order to enable him to escape after arrest, or to avoid arrest or conviction.

Question 2

What needs to be proved for a charge of Accessory After the Fact?

Answer 2

• That the person (Person A), who is received, comforted or assisted by the accessory (person B) is a party (principal or secondary party) to an offence that has been committed.
• That, at the time of receiving, comforting or assisted that person (person A), the accessory (person B) knows that person (person A) was a party to the offence.
• That the accessory (person B) received, comforted or assisted that person (person A) or tampered with or actively suppressed any evidence against hat person (person A).
• That at the time of the receiving, comforting or assisting etc, the accessory (person B) purpose was to enable that person (person A =) to escape after arrest or to avoid conviction.

Question 3

What was held in R v Crooks?

Knowledge

Answer 3

R v Crooks
Knowledge means actual knowledge or belief in the sense of having no real doubt that the person assisted was a party to the relevant offence. Mere suspicion of their involvement in the offence is insufficient.

Question 4

What was held in R v Briggs?

Wilful Blindness

Answer 4

R v Briggs
As with a receiving charge under s246(1), knowledge may also be inferred from wilful blindness or a deliberate abstention from making inquiries that would confirm the suspected truth.

Question 5

When is a person considered wilfully blind?

Answer 5

A person is considered wilfully blind in only two situations, these being:

• Where the person deliberately shuts their eyes and fails to enquire, this is because they knew what the answer would be.
• In situations where the means of knowledge are easily at hand and the person realises the likely truth of the matter but refrains from inquiring in order not to know.

Question 6

What is the Actus Reus of Accessory after the Fact?

Answer 6

The accessory must do one of the following deliberate acts listed below with the purpose of assisting the person to evade justice in one of the three ways (Mens Rea Escape after arrest, avoid arrest or avoid conviction)

The intentional acts are:

• Receives
• Comforts
• Assissts
• Tampers with evidence
• Actively suppresses evidence

Question 7

What was held in R v Mane?

When considered an accessory

Answer 7

R v Mane

To be considered an accessory the acts done by the person must be after the completion of the offence.