The House of Lords handed down judgment in the matter of R v Islam [2009] UKHL 30 on 10th of June 2009. The appeal related to a reduction in a confiscation order, as heroin had no market value when obtained because there was no lawful market. Thus the House had to determine whether, for the purpose of calculating a defendant’s benefit in confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 c.29, goods of an illegal nature obtained by Islam had to be treated as having no market value with the means of section 79 and 80 of the act.

The House allowed the appeal of the earlier decision, reported at [2008] EWCA Crim 1740. Overruling R v Hussain [2006] EWCA Crim 621, the Court held that the Act contained no precise definition of ‘market value’, and that the market was to be identified and the price determined as a question of fact. Applying R v Machell [2006] 1 WLR 609, to ignore an unlawful market would mean to restrict the amount of benefit in a way that ignored known facts, and the Act did not require the market to be a legitimate one.