CRIMINAL DIVISION
ON APPEAL FROM THE CROWN COURT AT TRURO
HHJ LINFORD 50AC0152124
Strand London WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
MRS JUSTICE McGOWAN
MR JUSTICE SWIFT
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REX |
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AIDEN CHRISTOPHER DREW |
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REFERENCE BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL UNDER S.36 CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1988 |
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Lower Ground, 46 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1JE
Tel No: 020 7404 1400; Email: rcj@epiqglobal.co.uk (Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
MR M MORTIMER appeared on behalf of the Offender.
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Crown Copyright ©
LORD JUSTICE SINGH:
Introduction
The Facts
The Sentencing Process
"All right, then I, I've read, it'll be obvious from what I've said, the only thing I haven't seen is this man's previous convictions, all right? I am prepared to give you the one indication that the law does not permit me give [sic], that in my view a plea of guilty at this stage converts the case from being immediate to suspended. Now, having said that, having said that, I'm not permitted to give that indication, but having said that, there's no way he should be pleading guilty unless he is guilty. But if he is guilty, stop worrying about the outcome, because I'll suspend it. If he's not, he has his trial. "
"The domestic context of the offending behaviour makes the offending more serious because it represents a violation of the trust and security that normally exists between people in an intimate or family relationship. Additionally, there may be a continuing threat to the victim's safety, and in the worst cases a threat to their life or the lives of others around them.
Domestic abuse offences are regarded as particularly serious within the criminal justice system. Domestic abuse is likely to become increasingly frequent and more serious the longer it continues, and may result in death. Domestic abuse can inflict lasting trauma on victims and their extended families, especially children and young people who either witness the abuse or are aware of it having occurred. Domestic abuse is rarely a one-off incident and it is the cumulative and interlinked physical, psychological, sexual, emotional or financial abuse that has a particularly damaging effect on the victims and those around them."
Submissions on behalf of the Solicitor General
Submissions on behalf of the Respondent
Our Assessment
"1. The judge at first instance is particularly well placed to assess the weight to be given to competing factors in considering sentence.
2. A sentence is only unduly lenient where it falls outside the range of sentences which the judge at first instance might reasonably consider appropriate.
3. Leave to refer a sentence should only be granted by this court in exceptional circumstances and not in borderline cases.
4. Section 36 of the 1988 Act is designed to deal with cases where judges have fallen into 'gross error'."
"... there is a line to be drawn... between the leniency of a sentence in any given case and a sentence which is 'unduly' lenient, in the words of the statute... The purpose of the system of Attorney-General's References in particular cases seems to us to be the avoidance of gross error, the allaying of widespread concern at what may appear to be an unduly lenient sentence, and the preservation of public confidence in cases where a judge appears to have departed to a substantial extent from the norms of sentencing generally applied by the courts in cases of a particular type."
Conclusion
(The Bench Conferred)