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England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions >> Murray, R v [2008] EWCA Crim 2771 (11 November 2008)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2008/2771.html
Cite as: [2008] EWCA Crim 2771, [2009] 2 Cr App R (S) 14, [2009] 2 Cr App Rep (S) 14
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CRIMINAL DIVISION
Strand London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
MR JUSTICE BEATSON
HIS HONOUR JUDGE JACOBS
(Sitting as a Judge of the Court of Appeal Criminal Division)
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| R E G I N A | ||
| v | ||
| DARREN MURRAY |
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- Judge Jacobs: On 5 March 2008 at Sheffield Crown Court this appellant pleaded guilty to a single count alleging conspiracy to steal parcels and contents belonging to the Royal Mail Group Limited. On 9 May 2008 he was sentenced to a term of three and a half years' imprisonment.
- He appeals that sentence by leave of the single judge.
- The appellant, who is now 41 years old and of previous good character, had been employed by the post office for about ten years. He worked as a night supervisor at the Rotherham Parcel Force depot where he worked alongside his co-defendant, Nicholas Busby, who was employed as a customer service provider. Busby was sentenced to a term of two and a half years' imprisonment.
- It was discovered that a large number of parcels had gone missing from the depot between November 2006 and November 2007. The appellant and Busby had found a method of circumventing the scanning system which was designed to keep track of such parcels. The parcels believed to contain high value electrical goods, such as PlayStations, mobile phones and digital cameras, were targeted. Both men were responsible for removing parcels and taking them to an employee carpark from whence they were driven from the depot. As a result of these thefts close circuit television was installed catching the appellant in the act of stealing a number of parcels.
- The goods were being sold by Busby through his eBay account. A total of £39,000 was received. That money, which had obtained from innocent purchasers, did not represent the true value of the goods, which was likely to be significantly higher, but the prosecution cannot make any firm calculation.
- When the appellant was arrested and searched a package was found in his coat pocket. He claimed it must have been planted. A search of his house revealed 23 further stolen items.
- The appellant in interview made qualified admissions that he had stolen between 15 to 20 parcels over a period of two months. He said that he had received about £2,000 from Busby as his share of the proceeds.
- The appellant was a man of previous good character. He was unable to give any clear reason for the commission of this offence. He accepted some degree of responsibility for his part for the offence but not an equal part with Busby.
- The grounds of appellant make reference to the case of R v Trevor Clark [1998] 2 Cr App R(S) 95. That case set out revised sentencing figures for theft from employers taking into account the effect of inflation. Thefts of between £17,500 and £100,000 would merit two to three years on a trial.
- In this particular case, however, there are other matters to consider. This was a case of theft of Royal Mail. In the case of R v David Reid (1992) 13 Cr App R(S) 645, which concerned the theft of mail by a high grade postman, this court emphasised the gravity of such offending. As the court said, there is undoubtedly, as a number of cases show, a distinction between theft by a postman and a theft by, for example, employees from a business. The latter only damage their employer. Thefts by post men cause alarm, disappointment and perhaps distress among members of the public who expect to receive registered letters and parcels which are stolen. These views were reiterated in the recent unreported case of R v Andrew Johnson [2006] EWCA Crim 3023.
- The issue in this case is, having taken into account the gravity of the appellant's behaviour, which quite clearly goes beyond those simple factors set out in R v Trevor Clark, but taking into account the fact that he did plead guilty and pleaded guilty at the section 51 hearing, which is the earliest opportunity, although he did seek at one stage a trial of issue right until the day of the trial of issue, but taking into account his age, his good character, the fact that he had not served a sentence of imprisonment or been convicted in any way before, and his willingness shortly after his dishonesty was discovered to seek further employment, whether this court could reduce that sentence from the three and a half years which was passed. This court has come to the conclusion, taking into account all those factors, this sentence was manifestly excessive. The sentence will therefore be reduced to one of two years and nine months' immediate imprisonment. To that extent this appeal is allowed.