Entrapment in United Kingdom

Definition of Entrapment

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Entrapment :

Deliberately trapping a person into committing a crime in order to secure his conviction, as by offering to buy drugs. English courts do not recognize a defence of entrapment as such, since the defendant is still considered to have a free choice in his acts. Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, entrapment may be a reason for making certain evidence inadmissible on the ground that the admission of the evidence would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings that the court ought not to admit it. The question of the admissibility of evidence obtained through entrapment is in some doubt as a consequence of the cases now being decided under the Human Rights Act 1998. Entrapment may also be used as a reason for mitigating a sentence.

See also agent provocateur.

Entrapment is a legal term which carries a strong connotation but whose definition has proved problematic. In the now watershed case of R v Looseley [2002] Crim LR 161 Lord Hoffmann defined it as “Entrapment occurs when an Agent of the State – usually a law enforcement officer or a controlled informer – causes someone to commit an offence in order that he should be prosecuted”. R v Looseley remains the guiding light.

Entrapment in Abuse of Process in Criminal Proceedings

The settled demeanour may soon be tested, insofar as private entrapment is concerned, by the Divisional Court’s ruling in Council for the Regulation of Healthcare Professionals v General Medical Council (Re Saluja) [2007] 1 WLR 3094. Equally, the destruction abuse case law (chapter 3) has benefited from the consistent application of the R (Ebrahim) v Feltham Magistrates’ Court decision.