O'Rawe, R. v

Mr S Doran QC with Mr S Devine BL (instructed by McConnell Kelly, Solicitors) for the Applicant Mr G Simpson QC with Mr R Steer BL (instructed by the Public Prosecution Service) for the Crown

[1]������� The applicant was convicted on 20 March 1975 of the offence of attempting to escape from lawful custody. �At the date of the offence (24 December 1973) the applicant was held on foot of an Interim Custody Order (�ICO�) dated 20 June 1973.

[2]������� That Order was signed �Belstead.� The signature was that of Lord Belstead, who at the date of signature was the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Northern Ireland Office.

[3]������� The decision of the Supreme Court in R v Adams [2020] UKSC 19 was to the effect that since the ICO on foot of which Mr Adams was detained was not signed by the Secretary of State, it was invalid and that, therefore, he was not lawfully detained. �Accordingly, he was wrongly convicted of the attempt to escape from lawful custody (see para 41).

[4]������� Since, therefore, the ICO on foot of which this applicant was detained falls into the same category as that in R v Adams , the prosecution accept that the ICO was invalid.