CRIMINAL DIVISION
Strand London WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
MRS JUSTICE CUTTS DBE
HER HONOUR JUDGE NORTON
(Sitting as a Judge of the CACD)
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REX | ||
v | ||
WASEEM KHAN | ||
TASWIR MOHAMMED | ||
MOHAMMED JAHANGEER |
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Lower Ground, 18-22 Furnival Street, London EC4A 1JS
Tel No: 020 7404 1400; Email: rcj@epiqglobal.co.uk
(Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
MR B NEWTON appeared on behalf of Taswir Mohammed
MR N WORSLEY and MISS N FATANIA appeared on behalf of Mohammed Jahangeer
MR M SHAW appeared on behalf of the Crown
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Crown Copyright ©
LORD JUSTICE LEWIS:
i. "These [messages] are all dated January 2020, just a few days before his arrest. You'll appreciate therefore that they are outside the dates of the conspiracy alleged in this case, which the prosecution say came to an end shortly after the 2nd of October 2019 upon the arrest of the Akram brothers. It is not therefore by itself evidence of the conspiracy or Waseem Raja Khan's involvement in it.
ii. However, the prosecution say that it shows that Waseem Raja Khan to have been involved at that later date in drug dealing, specifically cocaine and therefore it shows a propensity to deal in illicit drugs. So, it makes it more likely that he was the user of those tumbler mobile phones and therefore part of the conspiracy with which you are dealing.
iii. It is a matter for you to determine whether you agree with the prosecution's proposition in this regard and if so what weight you attach to this aspect of the evidence. But bear in mind that being involved in drug dealing in January 2020 does not necessarily mean that he must have been part of the earlier Akram conspiracy. So, you should focus your attention on the evidence for this conspiracy but you may if you feel it appropriate to do so, treat the evidence of the January 2020 messages on that iPhone as some additional support for the prosecution case."
i. "A few further words of warning about this aspect of the evidence. If you have any doubts about the provenance of the messages and that somehow they have not come from Waseem Raja Khan, then obviously you must ignore them. Because if they did not originate from him or were not sent to him to his iPhone, then they cannot be evidence against him. As regards the voice messages, you must be sure that they are Waseem Khan's voice. That they are him speaking as regards the messages said to have been sent by him.
ii. It is your judgment that matters, not what the prosecution or any prosecution witness has said. Although Waseem Raja Khan has not given evidence, you are able to listen to his voice in his police interview. If you have any doubt that those messages said to be from him and found on his iPhone are not his, then obviously you must ignore them."
i. "The judge proceeded on the basis that the evidence demonstrated the existence of a conspiracy in which Akram and Jameel Khan were involved and with which a particular telephone number was associated. He was right to do so. He then analysed the evidence in relation to two particular days. He concluded that a reasonable jury would be entitled to conclude that this evidence showed the applicant's participation in the criminal agreement on those days. It is not arguable that this conclusion was wrong. There were arguments to be put on both sides. Those arguments were properly the province of the jury."