MR ABIM OLABINJO v WESTMINSTER MAGISTRATES COURT - [2020] EWHC 1093 (Admin)

In a rare Divisional Court decision in respect to the exercises of the power to activate a sentence in default, on the 6 May 2020, Lord Justice Holroyde and Mr Justice William Davis, gave judgment. The grounds of review were two fold, firstly that the Claimant had been denied representation, and secondly that even if he did have a fair trial there was a failure to apply anxious scrutiny to the decision to activate the sentence. 

​The Judges disagreed on both points. The law was generally agreed, and this case turns on its facts.