R v Collins
| R v Collins | |
|---|---|
| Court | Court of Appeal – Criminal Division |
| Decided | 5 May 1972 |
| Citation(s) | [1973] QB 100 |
| Cases cited | None |
| Legislation cited | Theft Act 1968, Section 9(1)(a) |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | None |
| Subsequent action(s) | None |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Edmund Davies and Stephenson L.JJ. and Boreham J. |
| Keywords | |
| Burglary; Trespass | |
R v Collins 1973 QB 100 is a case decided by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales which examined the meaning of "enters as a trespasser" in the definition of burglary. Collins was a 19-year-old man who had been convicted of burglary with intent to commit rape[1] and sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
Facts
The facts were described by Edmund Davies LJ as "as being so improbable as to be unworthy of serious consideration and as verging at times on farce" had they been a play. The victim, an 18-year-old girl, went to bed at her mother's home in Colchester. She had spent the evening with her boyfriend and was intoxicated. She had the habit of sleeping without clothes in a bed which was very near the window of her room which was wide open. At about 3.30 or 4 o'clock she awoke and she saw in the moonlight a male (Collins) crouched in the open window. She was unable to remember, whether the form was on the outside of the window sill or on that part of the sill which was inside the room. That male was naked and had an erect penis and blonde hair, leaping to the conclusion that her boyfriend was paying her an ardent nocturnal visit.
She promptly sat up in bed, and the man descended from the sill and joined her in bed and they had full sexual intercourse. But there was something about him which made her think that things were not as they usually were between her and her boyfriend. The length of his hair, his voice and other features led her to the conclusion that somehow there was something different. She turned on the bed-side light, saw that her companion was not her boyfriend and slapped his face. He said to her, "Give me a good time tonight," and took hold of her arm, but she bit him and told him to go. She then went into the bathroom and he promptly vanished.
Collins was arrested and charged with burglary with intent to commit rape, tried at the Essex Assizes and convicted. He was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment and appealed against that conviction.
Trial
Collins' barrister submitted during the first instance trial that because she had invited him into her bedroom, even under a mistake of fact, Collins had not "entered as a trespasser". The Assizes judge rejected this submission. There had been an issue as to where exactly Collins had been at the time of her mistaken invitation—outside the window on the sill or already inside the bedroom—and the evidence was inconclusive on that point.
Decision
The point in issue had not previously been decided so there was no authority on which the court could rely; instead, textbooks were consulted.[2][3][4]
Having examined these opinions, the court ruled that the person entering
| “ | must do so knowing that he is a trespasser and nevertheless deliberately enters, or, at the very least, is reckless as to whether or not he is entering the premises of another without the other party's consent. | ” |
The court considered that on the facts, the judge had misdirected the jury on this test, even though the timing had been unclear. It was also considered obiter that civil law concepts such as trespass ab initio[5] and her occupancy status[6] were irrelevant to the criminal law.
Accordingly, the court allowed the appeal on the basis that the jury had never been invited to consider whether in fact Collins was a trespasser when he entered X's bedroom; his conviction was duly quashed.
External links
References
- ↑ now redefined as trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence under s63 Sexual Offences Act 2003
- ↑ Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice (37th ed.). London: Sweet & Maxwell. 1969. p. 1505.
- ↑ Smith, J C (1968). The Law of Theft. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 462.
- ↑ Griew, Edward (1968). The Theft Act 1968. London: Sweet & Maxwell. pp. 4–05.
- ↑ that is, lawful entry on land or premises followed by the commission of an unlawful act renders the entry trespassory (Shorland v Govett 1826 5 B&C 485)
- ↑ That is, she was neither the freeholder nor a tenant of the premises
