Court of Appeal overturns police officer’s conviction for drug offence

The Court of Appeal has overturned a police officer’s conviction for possession of a proscribed drug. In a judgment handed down on 31 October 2025 by the President of the King’s Bench Division, it was ruled that the Defendant should have been allowed to ask the jury to find that he had been lawfully in possession of cannabis pursuant to his duties as a police officer despite not having been on duty at the relevant time. His conviction was therefore unsafe.

Reporting restrictions in respect of the case were lifted on 6 January 2026 after the Defendant was acquitted following a retrial at Lincoln Crown Court.

Rosa Bennathan, instructed by Straw & Pearce, represented the Defendant in the Court of Appeal and at both Crown Court trials.

7th January 2026