A man who pleaded guilty to producing cannabis despite being a victim of human trafficking as a child has had his conviction referred to the Crown Court.
Mr ‘Q’ was trafficked from Vietnam as a child in 2013 for the purposes of forced labour. In April 2017 he was convicted at Warrington magistrates’ court of cultivating cannabis and sentenced to 20 months custody.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission believes that there is a real possibility that the Crown Court will overturn his conviction, as the legal advisors who represented him at court did not inform him about a possible defence under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community The CCRC is an independent body set up under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995.
It is responsible for independently reviewing suspected and alleged miscarriages of criminal justice in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and funded by the Ministry of Justice.