{"id":665271,"date":"2026-04-23T23:31:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T21:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.com\/jurisprudences\/regina-v-sean-fitton\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T23:31:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T21:31:28","slug":"regina-v-sean-fitton","status":"publish","type":"kji_decision","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.com\/ru\/jurisprudences\/regina-v-sean-fitton\/","title":{"rendered":"Regina v Sean Fitton"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"kji-decision\">\n<div class=\"kji-full-text\">\n<p>Introduction 1. Lawrence &amp; Co. (\u2018the Appellants\u2019) appeal the decision of the Determining Officer at the Legal Aid Agency (\u2018the Respondent\u2019) in respect of a claim submitted under the Litigator\u2019s Graduated Fee Scheme (\u2018LGFS\u2019). The issue is whether the Appellants are entitled to a graduated fee based on a \u2018cracked trial\u2019, as claimed, or whether it should be allowed as a \u2018guilty plea\u2019, as assessed by the Respondent. Background 2. The Appellants represented Mr Sean Fitton (\u2018the Defendant\u2019) who appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. The background to this case is complicated and unique. 3. Sometime prior to 2020 the Defendant was arrested, charged, tried and convicted on an allegation of Grievous Bodily Harm. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. He was released on licence having served half his sentence. 4. He was then the subject of a new allegation of conspiring to supply Class A drugs. This charge triggered his recall on licence. When the Defendant was notified of his recall by his Probation Officer, he fled to the Republic of Ireland. 5. A European Arrest Warrant (\u2018EAW\u2019) was then issued, based apparently on his recall from licence. An EAW is an enabling provision that turns on the existence of a domestic arrest warrant, so it may be that the issue of a EAW was incorrect in this case. 6. Then, in August 2020, the Defendant was arrested by the Garda in Ireland for offences allegedly committed in Ireland. This detention prompted his further arrest in Ireland on the EAW. 7. In February 2021 the Defendant was then extradited to the United Kingdom. He was returned to prison to complete his sentence for the GBH. 8. On 24th May 2021, while the Defendant was still in prison, he was taken to Basingstoke Magistrates\u2019 Court to appear on the drugs conspiracy allegation. No judge was available and no hearing took place. Nonetheless the court sent the Defendant\u2019s case to Portsmouth Crown Court for a directions hearing. At no stage was the Defendant arraigned or asked to enter or indicate a plea. As the Defendant had \u2018special protection\u2019 arising from his extradition, it may well be that the process followed by the prosecution was incorrect. 9. The Defendant appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on 23rd June 2021 for a Plea and Trial Preparation Hearing before HHJ Melville QC. It is clear from the Court Log (14:10) that there was \u201cNo arraignment\u201d. It seems that by then the prosecution was beginning to grapple with the complex procedural issues raised by the Defendant\u2019s case, so he was remanded in custody for a \u201creview hearing in four weeks\u201d (14:23). 10. The Defendant\u2019s case was re-listed For Mention on 30th June and 9th July 2021. By this stage, the prosecution, realising that the procedure followed hitherto was incorrect, requested that the case be remitted to the magistrates\u2019 court, so that the case could be regularised and \u201cthen start again\u201d (30 June 2021, 15:15). At no point on either 30th June or 9th July was the Defendant arraigned or invited to indicate a plea. Indeed, on 30th June HHJ Melville QC indicated that the indictment should be stayed (Court Log, 15:30). 11. On 14th July 2021, the case was re-listed For Mention. By this stage the prosecution and the defence effectively agreed the appropriate procedure. The judge stayed the indictment (CL, 09:49) and the \u201cCase [was] Closed\u201d (09:52). 12. The Defendant was released from prison at the end of his sentence in about August\/September 2021. It was evidently the prosecution\u2019s intention to return the Defendant\u2019s case to the magistrates\u2019 court and re-start the drugs conspiracy proceedings. Unfortunately, the case never re-started because the Defendant unexpectedly died on 3rd January 2022. The Regulations 13. Legal Aid was granted to the Defendant on 20th May 2021 and so The Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013 (\u2018the 2013 Regulations\u2019), as amended in 2018, apply to this appeal. 14. Schedule 2, Litigator\u2019s Graduated Fees Scheme, Part 6, contains the following relevant definitions: \u201cCracked Trial\u201d means a case on indictment in which \u2013 (a) a plea and case management hearing takes place and \u2013 (i) the case does not proceed to trial (whether by reason of pleas of guilty or for other reasons) or the prosecution offers no evidence; and (ii) either \u2013 (aa)in respect of one or more counts to which the assisted person has pleaded guilty, the assisted person did not so plead at the plea and case management hearing; or (bb)in respect of one or more counts which did not proceed, the prosecution did not, before or at the plea and case management hearing, declare an intention of not proceeding with them; or (b) the case is listed for trial without a plea and case management hearing taking place; \u201cguilty plea\u201d means the case on indictment which \u2013 (a) is disposed of without a trial because the assisted person pleaded guilty to one or more counts; and (b) is not a cracked trial; \u2026 Submissions 15. The Respondent\u2019s case is set out in Written Reasons dated 4th May 2022. No appearance was made at the appeal hearing on 6th May 2022, but Mr Rimer, a Senior Lawyer at the LAA, filed helpful additional submissions by e-mail on 5th May 2022. The Appellants\u2019 case is set out in Grounds of Appeal in the Appellants\u2019 Notice and in a separate document entitled \u2018Note on Costs\u2019. Mr Daoud, a Solicitor Advocate, appeared at the hearing and made oral submissions for the Appellants. My analysis and conclusions 16. The Appellants and the Respondent agree that this is an unusual \u2013 essentially unique \u2013 case and that the circumstances do not fit naturally within the regime laid down for the LGFS in the 2013 Regulations. They agree that \u2018cracked trial\u2019 or \u2018guilty plea\u2019 comprise the only realistic options and that neither apply perfectly. 17. Mr Rimer, for the Respondent, submits that the Determining Officer\u2019s decision was correct as the requirements for a cracked trial were not met. Ultimately the case was stayed following \u201ctechnical argument\u201d, although it is accepted that this was a complex case involving \u201ca large amount of prosecution evidence\u201d. 18. The Appellants, conversely, submit that this could not be a guilty plea, as at no stage at Basingstoke Magistrates\u2019 Court or Portsmouth Crown Court did the Defendant actually plead guilty (or enter any plea), notwithstanding five listings or appearances. On the contrary, so far as the claim must be either a cracked trial or a guilty plea, the circumstances favour clearly the former over the latter. 19. This is, as noted, an unusual case. My conclusion is that the submissions of the Appellants should be preferred to those of the Respondent. I agree with Mr Daoud that this could not properly be classed as a \u2018guilty plea\u2019, as at no stage did the Defendant enter a plea, guilty or otherwise. It seems to me that the fact of the guilty plea should be, at the very least, a prerequisite to a classification in the LGFS as a guilty plea. Conversely, in my view, the case does satisfy the technical requirements of a \u2018cracked trial\u2019. A plea and case management hearing did take place on 23rd June 2021 (although in Portsmouth Crown Court it was termed a \u2018Plea and Trial Preparation\u2019 hearing). The case did not then proceed to trial, in circumstances where the \u2018for other reasons\u2019 category in 1(1)(a) (i) is seemingly satisfied. Ultimately the prosecution offered no evidence, the indictment was stayed and the case was closed, albeit with the intention clearly of re-starting in the magistrates\u2019 court in due course. The LGFS, as has been noted in numerous decisions, invokes a \u2018swings and roundabouts\u2019 system of remuneration, the operation of which can lead, in certain cases, to an applicant being either over or underpaid in a particular case. In fact, I do not see that a cracked trial assessment confers any windfall on the Appellants, as this was a complex, technical prosecution, leading to four Crown court appearances, and the submission of a 38-page Skeleton Argument, raising complex arguments in law were accepted ultimately by the prosecution. 20. Accordingly, this appeal is allowed and I direct that the Appellants LGFS claim should be paid as a cracked trial and not a guilty plea. Costs 21. The Appellant have been successful in this appeal and I award costs of \u00a3500+ VAT, along with the \u00a3100 paid to lodge his appeal. TO: COPIES TO: Lawrence &amp; Co. 404 Harrow Road London W9 2HU DX148160 MAIDA HILL 2 Mr Michael Rimer Legal Aid Agency 102 Petty France London SW1H 9AJ DX328 London Determining Officer Legal Aid Agency Fothergill House 16 King Street Nottingham NG1 2AS DX 10035 NOTTINGHAM The Senior Courts Costs Office, Thomas More Building, Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2A 2LL: DX 44454 Strand, Telephone No: 020 7947 6468, Fax No: 020 7947 6247. When corresponding with the court, please address letters to the Criminal Clerk and quote the SCCO number.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"kji-sep\" \/>\n<p class=\"kji-source-links\"><strong>Sources officielles :<\/strong> <a class=\"kji-source-link\" href=\"https:\/\/caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/ewhc\/scco\/2022\/1542\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">consulter la page source<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"kji-license-note\"><em>Open Justice Licence (The National Archives).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction 1. Lawrence &amp; Co. (\u2018the Appellants\u2019) appeal the decision of the Determining Officer at the Legal Aid Agency (\u2018the Respondent\u2019) in respect of a claim submitted under the Litigator\u2019s Graduated Fee Scheme (\u2018LGFS\u2019). The issue is whether the Appellants are entitled to a graduated fee based on a \u2018cracked trial\u2019, as claimed, or whether it should be allowed as&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":""},"kji_country":[7608],"kji_court":[8229],"kji_chamber":[],"kji_year":[32183],"kji_subject":[7612],"kji_keyword":[8043,7697,9153,7916,8231],"kji_language":[7611],"class_list":["post-665271","kji_decision","type-kji_decision","status-publish","hentry","kji_country-royaume-uni","kji_court-high-court-senior-court-costs-office","kji_year-32183","kji_subject-fiscal","kji_keyword-appellants","kji_keyword-defendant","kji_keyword-guilty","kji_keyword-hearing","kji_keyword-trial","kji_language-anglais"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Regina v Sean Fitton - Ma\u00eetre Hassan Kohen, avocat en droit p\u00e9nal \u00e0 Paris<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kohenavocats.com\/ru\/jurisprudences\/regina-v-sean-fitton\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ru_RU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Regina v Sean Fitton\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Introduction 1. Lawrence &amp; Co. (\u2018the Appellants\u2019) appeal the decision of the Determining Officer at the Legal Aid Agency (\u2018the Respondent\u2019) in respect of a claim submitted under the Litigator\u2019s Graduated Fee Scheme (\u2018LGFS\u2019). 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