From: Jonathan Spencer, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I am about to commence an appeal under Section 44 against Cleveland
Police's refusal to vary my FAC to add a cap-and-ball revolver ("muzzle
loading gun") for target shooting.
I realise that I have to submit a 'Notice of appeal' to the Court, and
copy this to the police, but not much beyond that.
I will be grateful for all advice or assistance from those who have been
through this or are familiar with the procedures. I am consulting both
BASC and the NRA for advice and/or help. I am also contacting David
Barnes (solicitor in Ipswitch).
--Jonathan Spencer, firearms examiner
"Justice is open to everybody in the same way as the Ritz Hotel."
Judge Sturgess, 22 July 1928
--
Bear in mind that tagline!
Filing it is pretty easy, I have the form of words if you want it,
you send a copy to the Chief Constable and another to the local
Crown Court. It can be worth going to the hearing on scheduling
(which they won't tell you about) as you may stand a chance of
getting a decent judge.
The police will send a letter saying they acknowledge the appeal.
Immediately write to them and ask for the evidence they are
going to present, make a note of it, because I can virtually
guarantee they will add things on the day you go to court. Also,
the reason they put in the refusal letter is rarely connected
with the real reason why they turned you down, so make sure you
are prepared to counter any possible reason they might have
for turning you down. Make the point to the judge that what
they have presented in court is not connected to what is in
the refusal letter, judges usually have a dim view of the police
misleading applicants.
Also, bear in mind that regardless of the strength of your
argument you will almost certainly get a judge that is biased
because (a) judges are just as anti-gun as everyone else
in this country and (b) they are always biased in favour
of the police.
Get a letter from the Home Office with their view of what
variations in this instance should be issued for, if you
are lucky the police will try and do the same thing and
the Home Office may disagree with them, which always looks
bad for them in court. Another angle which is very useful
is finding other FAC holders in the same force area who
have the same authority you are looking for, for the same
purpose. If you can't do that, find someone in the force
next door. This will make the judge wonder why the police
are discriminating against you personally.
Finally, bear in mind that you stand almost no chance of
being awarded costs, and frankly the odds are heavily
stacked against your winning, so make sure you can afford
it first. Parliament never intended that the police hire
a pricey barrister for appeals like this, but they often
do and you will get hit with those costs. You may be
angry at some small-minded licensing decision but it
will cost you dear if you lose.
I'd also run it past MLAGB.
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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