Accessory after the fact

Question 1

Section, act, penatly for AATF?

Answer 1

S71(1) CA61
under 10 years - half penalty
10 years or more - 5 years
Life imp - max 7 years

Question 2

List the ingredients for AATF.

Answer 2

1. Knowing any person to be a party to an offence
2. Receives or comforts or assists that person OR tampers with or actively suppresses any evidence against him
3. In order to help him to escape after arrest OR to avoid arrest or conviction

Question 3

What must the crown prove to obtain a conviction for AATF?

Answer 3

(Receiving/ Comforting/ Assisting)

• An offence was committed by the person who is received, comforted or assisted by the accessory.
• At the time of R/C/A that person, the accessory knew that the person was a party to the offence.
• The accessory received, comforted or assisted that person or tampered with or actively suppressed any evidence against that person.
• At the time of R/C/A etc the accessory’s purpose was to enable that person to escape after arrest or to avoid arrest or conviction.

Question 4

Can a wife be an accessory if assisting their spouse and one other who is with their spouse? Explain your answer.

Answer 4

No - however this does not apply to de facto or other family relationships.

Question 5

Can a person still be convicted as an accessory if the offender has been acquitted of the offence?

Answer 5

yes, unless the accessory’s conviction is inconsistent with the acquittal of the original offender.
e.g an offender confessing to an offence only to have the confession ruled inadmissible resulting in an acquittal.

Question 6

R v Crooks

Answer 6

R v Crooks
knowledge means actual knowledge or belief in the sense of having no real doubt that the person assisted was a party to the relevant offence. Mere suspicion of their involvement in the offence is insufficient.

Question 7

R v Briggs

Answer 7

R v Briggs
As with a receiving charge under s246(1), knowledge may also be inferred from wilful blindness or a deliberate abstention from making inquiries that would confirm the suspected truth.

Question 8

In relation to ‘Accessory’, what knowledge must exist at the time of giving assistance?

Answer 8

The accessory must possess the knowledge that:

• an offence has been committed, AND
• the person they are assisting was a party (principal or secondary) to that offence.

Question 9

What is the Actus reas of AATF?

Answer 9

• receives
• comforts
• assists
• tampers with evidence
• actively suppresses evidence