Flynn & Anor, R v (Rev 1)

Facts

On 29 April 2006 Samia Taourit, the first employee to arrive at the Cricklewood premises of Elonex Computers plc, a distribution warehouse for IBM computers, was confronted by a white Mercedes Sprinter van which drove through the open gates. Hooded and masked men jumped from the rear, pushed a double-barrelled shotgun into his stomach, forced him to de-activate the alarm and bound his hands and feet with parcel tape and cable ties. The robbers were unable to penetrate the steel walls of the strong room, which held about £10,000 worth of computer chips, and fled on hearing a noise outside. It was not in dispute that a conspiracy to rob the company existed between 19 March and 29 April 2006; the issue for the jury was whether these appellants were parties to it. The prosecution relied on circumstantial and forensic evidence, including fingerprints in the van, together with the evidence of four police officers who claimed to recognise the voices of Kris Flynn and Joe St John on a covert recording made by a listening device fitted in the van. The trial judge, His Honour Judge Risius, admitted that evidence and the transcripts. On 7 December 2006 at Reading Crown Court both appellants were convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery and each was sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment. They appealed with the leave of the full court.