“If there is further use and conduct of the undercover officer outside of that already authorised or there is a significant development requiring additional authority, a further update report is to be submitted immediately.”
“There must be a continued assessment of a likely degree of intrusion into the privacy of those potentially affected to ensure that it remains proportionate to what the undercover officer seeks to achieve. The likely collateral intrusion into the privacy of persons, other than those directly implicated, or any adverse impact on community confidence must be constantly reviewed.”
“UCO’s ‘conduct & intention’ key – MUST be accepted in area – VERY difficult – Good cover story/legend key issue.”
“Any goods offered/given/sold to locals will only be to further the ‘cover stories’ & maintain credibility of UCO’s. The sale/supply of such goods must NOT act as A.P. [Agent Provocateur] & expectation is that subjects will have shown some element of predisposition directly/indirectly with criminality subject of operation.”
“(1) Establish intel re subject/premises → predisposition (however emerges), (2) offer unexceptional opportunity to subject → ie ‘POSE’ as drug dealer/handler etc, (3) evidence extent of criminality → no forcing them to so something that they wouldn’t normally do (ie not AP)…Only tempt those predisposed.”
“Firstly, the conduct…was not covered by the authorisations and was to that extent, and to that extent only, unlawful. In my judgment it should have been covered and the failure to do so was an error of judgment on the part of the authorising officer although to some extent understandable because there was a general covering of criminal activity and there was clearly in my judgment an awareness on the part of all concerned [of] what the activities were going to be so there was no substantial dereliction there…the officers’ conduct was properly controlled and monitored at all times and therefore I do not consider the…failure, regrettable as it was, to be of particularly great significance in the outcome of the applications.”
“Jason: You might be able to help me. Does anyone round here got any [inaudible, scilicet cocaine]. Moore: Yeah I can get it, in big bits for ya. Jason: In big bits? Moore: Yeah, at thirteen hundred pound. But it’s none of that, it’s none of that shit. Jason: How much notice do you need for that? Moore: What for that? That’s an ounce, I can get that on the ounce. …Maybe a day… Jason: Yeah just one [ounce]. Moore: Yeah I can do it [inaudible]. I tell you what I will do, I will call him and get back to ya. I just keep in touch.”
“Oh alright, you alright doing that though, you sure?”; to which Ms Moore replied: “Yeah, yeah it’s no problem, it’s cool.”
“But, only if that is alright with you girl? That’s the only thing.”
“Is that alright then yeah?”
“Yeah that’s fine that’s cool.”
“Did you get a drink for this?”
“Nah, it’s alright don’t worry I will sort something out with Jason.”
“Are you sure, if you want anything, any kind of phones or anything stuff he has.”
“Yeah that’s what I mean. I talk to him during the week. Definitely yeah, keeps him happy that’s cool.”
“Just let me know which [day] a day before and I will go and get it.”
“The other thing, I am thinking about going directly to the guy to make it easier for you.”
“I’m fucked, I ain’t got no credit on my phone”
“He was induced to procure heroin for the undercover officer by the prospect of a profitable trade in smuggled cigarettes. The judge was entitled to take the view that, even if this was an authorised operation, the police had caused him to commit an offence which he would not otherwise have committed.”
“Therefore the officers did more than give him the opportunity to commit the offence of supplying heroin – they instigated the offence because they offered him inducements that would not ordinarily be associated with the commission of such an offence.”
“An elaboration of those facts by Mr Munt on behalf of the defence, admitted facts, makes it absolutely clear to me that in this case these officers went further than was permissible and in fact incited and procured this defendant to commit an offence he would not otherwise have committed.”
“The inducements offered to the accused in order to persuade him to supply heroin do not seem to me to correspond with what would be necessary to cause the prosecution to be an affront to the public or to offend ordinary notions of fairness. This was, however, a matter for the discretion of the trial judge, and it may be that his value judgment was one that he was entitled to reach.”
“The theme which runs through all discussions of the subject is that the state should not instigate the commission of criminal offences in order to punish them. But what counts for this purpose as instigation? An examination of the authorities demonstrates, in my opinion, that one cannot isolate any single factor or devise any formula that will always produce the correct answer. One can certainly identify a cluster of relevant factors but in the end their relative weight and importance depends upon the particular facts of the case.”
“It is simply not acceptable that the state through its agents should lure its citizens into committing acts forbidden by the law and then seek to prosecute them for doing so. That would be entrapment. That would be a misuse of state power.”
“25. Ultimately the overall consideration is always whether the conduct of the police or other law enforcement agency was so seriously improper as to bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Lord Steyn’s formulation of a prosecution which would affront the public conscience is substantially to the same effect: see R v Latif[1996] 1 WLR 104 , 112…In applying these formulations the court has regard to all the circumstances of the case.”
“but having grounds for suspicion of a particular individual is not always essential. Sometimes suspicion may be centred on a particular place, such as a particular public house.”
“65. The requirement of reasonable suspicion does not necessarily mean that there must have been suspicion of the particular person who happens to have committed the offence. The police may, in the course of a bona fide investigation into suspected criminality, provide an opportunity for the commission of an offence which is taken by someone to whom no suspicion previously attached. This can happen when a decoy (human or inanimate) is used in the course of detection of crime which has been prevalent in a particular place…If the trick had been the individual enterprise of a policeman in an area where such crime was not suspected to be prevalent, it would have been an abuse of state power. It was justified because it was an authorised investigation into actual crime and the fact that the defendants may not have previously been suspected or even thought of offending was their hard luck.”
“Closely linked to the question whether the police were creating or detecting crime is the supervision of their activities. To allow policemen or controlled informers to undertake entrapment activities unsupervised carries great danger, not merely that they will try to improve their performances in court, but of oppression, extortion and corruption. As we shall see, the European Court of Human Rights in Texeira de Castro v Portugal 28 EHRR 101 attached great importance to the fact that the police were not acting in the course of an officially authorised investigation.”
“51. We have already concluded that the officers’ conduct was criminal and it was not properly authorised. Nonetheless, we take the view that it should not be regarded as so seriously improper as to require the court to intervene to prevent the prosecution for conspiracy. It was conduct which merely exposed, for the purposes of the undercover operation, the undercover officers’ interest in drugs and eagerness to receive a small quantity. That was, in our judgment, no more than might be expected of any criminal willing to engage in illicit dealing in drugs. Looseley emphasised the importance of the analysis of the behaviour of the undercover officers in comparison with that which might bee expected of those committing criminal offences (see for example paragraph 55 of the speech of Lord Hoffmann in Looseley). Undercover officers, seeking to expose drug dealers, must show enthusiasm and a degree of persistence to provide protection for their undercover activities. As Lord Hoffmann accepts, a good deal of active behaviour may be acceptable (see paragraph 69). 52. In our judgment the conduct of the police officers was not exceptional and did not go beyond that which was necessary to show their willingness to deal in drugs. An exchange of a small amount of cocaine triggered the revelation that these defendants were not only happy to import very substantial quantities of cocaine but had the ability to do so. The officers’ activities pale into insignificance in comparison to the offers made by Harmes to import, on their behalf, large amounts of cocaine of a high value.”
“55. The test of whether the enforcement officer behaved like an ordinary member of the public works well and is likely to be decisive in many cases of regulatory offences committed with ordinary members of the public, such as selling liquor in unlicensed quantities…But ordinary members of the public do not become involved in large scale drug dealing…The appropriate standards of behaviour are in such cases rather more problematic.”
“18. In our judgment, there is no significant distinction between the assumed facts of the present case and the facts of Looseley. It is an inherent aspect of any undercover police operation that the undercover police officer insinuates himself into the confidence of those involved in the criminal conduct at which the operation is directed. For an officer who has so insinuated himself to offer an opportunity to a defendant to commit a criminal offence, in the absence of persuasion or pressure or the offer of a significant inducement, will not generally result in its being an abuse of the process to prosecute the person who takes that opportunity to commit an offence. 19. For these reasons it was not open to the judge to make a finding of entrapment on the assumed facts before him such as to render the prosecution of M an abuse of the process. 20. If, during the course of the evidence, facts (for example, that there was pressure put on M to supply the drugs in question) are established that go significantly beyond those on which the judge made his decision, it may be necessary to review our decision. It is for this reason that we consider that it would have been sensible for the judge to have followed the procedure suggested by counsel, that is for the issue of entrapment to be addressed after [the officer] had given evidence before the jury, with if necessary M giving evidence at that stage in the absence of the jury.”
“Yeah I can get it, in big bits for ya”