Scottish High Court of Justiciary Decisons

McInnes v. Her Majesty's Advocate [2002] ScotHC 328 (02 December 2002)

APPEAL COURT, HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY
Lord Justice Clerk Lord Kirkwood Lord Osborne	Appeal No: C690/02   OPINION OF THE COURT delivered by THE LORD JUSTICE CLERK in NOTE OF APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE by EDWARD GEORGE McINNES Appellant against HER MAJESTY'S ADVOCATE Respondent _____________

 

Appellant: Shead; George Mathers & Co., Aberdeen

Respondent: Targowski, QC, AD; Crown Agent

30 October 2002

1. On 1 August 2002 the appellant pled guilty at the High Court at Stonehaven to the following amended charge:

"(3) on 21 March 2002 at 35c Bedford Avenue, Aberdeen, you did assault Mark Belli, c/o Grampian Police, Queen Street, Aberdeen and did strike him on the neck with a knife or similar instrument to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life."

The trial judge sentenced the appellant to 61/2 years imprisonment.

2. On the occasion libelled, there had been some dispute between the complainer and the appellant regarding a sum of money which the complainer had been holding for the appellant. The appellant along with three other persons entered the complainer's house and went to the complainer's bedroom. After a brief exchange of words, the appellant slashed the complainer's neck with a knife or similar instrument. The appellant and his associates then left the house.
3. The complainer managed to make his way to a neighbouring flat. He was then taken to hospital, where it was found that two-thirds of his carotid artery had been severed. Before his condition was stabilised, his blood pressure twice dropped to a level that could not be accurately read. In all, he lost at least two litres of blood.
4. Counsel acknowledged that the appellant's conduct merited a substantial custodial sentence. He pointed out that although the appellant's previous convictions included a number of convictions for assault, these were at summary level. The most recent of them, in May 1998, resulted in his being put into probation. The appellant had a substantial history of problems with drink and drugs. He managed to recover from heroin abuse in 1998 when he was put on probation. He had not been in trouble since May 1999, but in the course of 2001 had drifted back into drugs. Counsel for the appellant submitted that the sentencing judge failed to give adequate weight to the fact that the appellant had pled guilty to the amended charge in the course of the trial.
5. We see no reason to interfere with the sentence. In our view, the reasons given by the sentencing judge in his report are cogent. We are impressed particularly by the fact that the appellant sought out the victim and entered his house armed with a knife. The use of a knife is serious at any time, but the injuries to the complainer in this case were grave. But for medical intervention, they would in all probability have resulted in his death. Having regard to that fact and to the appellant's previous record, which includes several convictions for violence, we consider that the sentence imposed was appropriate. The appeal is refused.