June 21, 2021
As a result of the recent successful appeal against conviction and subsequent acquittal of Mr Kakaei establishing the section 11 defence in Small Boats Cases (see news story here) the CPS have now been forced to offer no evidence against eleven further asylum seekers at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday 18 June 2021 and discontinue pending proceedings against a further twelfth asylum seeker.
Aneurin Brewer, who represented Mr. Kakaei in the first case of its kind commented in the Independent:
“While it is welcome that the CPS have conceded that these prosecutions should not have been brought, there will be no compensation for the many months these defendants have each been remanded in prison awaiting trial….There are also a substantial number of previous cases where defendants unaware of the defence developed in Mr Kakaei’s case have pleaded guilty and received sentences of between two and five years’ imprisonment. Those cases will now need to be carefully reviewed and appeals pursued.”
Read full piece here: [The Independent]