R v Patel 2025
P operated a business selling cannabidiol (CBD) products, claiming compliance with EU laws limiting THC content to less than 0.2%. Despite police warnings that his products violated the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, he continued to import and sell products. Customs officers intercepted packages of herbal cannabis between October 2020 and January 2021, which included significant quantities of cannabis with THC contents of up to 1%. On 14 January 2021, during his arrest, P’s home contained £3,000 in cash, cannabis, and CBD products.
P pleaded guilty to three offences of fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on importation of controlled drugs, specifically cannabis, and one offence of possession with intent to supply cannabis. He was sentenced to concurrent 14-month imprisonment terms, suspended for 24 months.
P argued that he believed, based on personal research and market observations, that his activities were lawful, despite being warned otherwise. P’s eventual guilty pleas were entered following a Goodyear indication that his sentence would not exceed two years, suspended, and an agreement with the prosecution to limit charges to four counts. P appealed against his convictions.
P argued that cannabis with low THC was not a controlled drug, making its importation lawful under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. He contended that his guilty pleas were vitiated by incorrect legal advice and ambiguity in the law, asserting that he had viable defences.
The responding prosecution submitted that cannabis, regardless of THC content, remains a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. They argued that the case of R v Margiotta and others should be confined to its facts, and that P knowingly imported and supplied cannabis despite warnings, making his guilty pleas deliberate and unequivocal.
Held
Appeal dismissed. Convictions safe.
The court distinguished the facts of Margiotta, concluding that P failed to prove his imported cannabis fell within the THC limits supporting a Margiotta-style defence. EU law ceased to have direct effect after 31 December 2020, precluding Margiotta arguments for January 2021 offences. The court considered P’s guilty pleas to be unequivocal, entered with full awareness of the potential defences and legal implications, and following advice by competent legal counsel. Despite raising concerns about the clarity of THC-related laws, the court found the statutory framework provided sufficient notice, supported by the police warning. To render guilty pleas unsafe due to legal advice, P needed to show that the omitted defences were likely to succeed, a threshold not met in this case. Importantly, P's plea strategy reflected his intent to minimise sentencing risks, not his belief in the strength of his legal defences.
Reproduced with permission of Reed Elsevier (UK) Limited, trading as LexisNexis.
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