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Scottish High Court of Justiciary Decisons
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Scottish High Court of Justiciary Decisons >> BELL, APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE BY AGAINST HER MAJESTY'S ADVOCATE [2018] ScotHC HCJAC_18 (06 February 2018)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/scot/cases/ScotHC/2018/[2018]_HCJAC_18.html
Cite as: [2018] ScotHC HCJAC_18, [2018] HCJAC 18, 2018 GWD 7-95, 2018 SCCR 117
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Lady Paton
Lord Turnbull
APPEAL COURT, HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY
[2018] HCJAC 18
HCA/2017/000626/XC
OPINION OF THE COURT
delivered by LADY PATON
in
APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE
by
STEPHEN BELL
Appellant
against
HER MAJESTY’S ADVOCATE
Respondent
Appellant: A Ogg, Sol. Advocate; Capital Defence Lawyers, Edinburgh for Allans Solicitors,
Lerwick
Respondent: D Small, AD ad hoc; Crown Agent
6 February 2018
[1] This is a man aged 59, who is in the grip of an uncontrollable obsession with child
pornography.
[2] The sheriff outlines the massive number of images, both still and moving. He
outlines their categories, A, B and C. He describes the appellant’s total absorption with
downloading and viewing, such that he neglected basic household tasks and did not even
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2
bother going to the toilet, simply defecating where he was . The sheriff ultimately
concluded at paragraph 14 of his report that: “This was about as bad a case of its kind as I
could imagine”. We agree.
[3] However, we note that in this particular case, a significant sentence of 52 months has
been imposed. Not only will there be opportunities for programmes in custody, but there
will also be a period on licence (which could range from as little as 6 months to as much as
26 months). During that time, the appellant will be the subject of close supervision. Also a
sexual offences prevention order of indefinite length has been imposed. That order is
focused upon the offending conduct. It provides:
“The offender is prohibited from using any device capable of accessing the internet
unless it has the capability to retain and display the history of internet use. The
offender must make the device available on request for inspection by a police officer.
The offender is prohibited from deleting such history of internet use. The offender is
prohibited from possessing any device capable of storing digital images unless he
makes it available on request for inspection by a police officer.”
The appellant is also subject to the notification requirements under the Sexual Offences
(Scotland) Act 2003 for an indefinite period.
[4] In these particular circumstances, we have reached the view that the test set out in
section 210A of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 has not been met and that
accordingly an extended sentence was unnecessary. We shall therefore allow the appeal,
quash the sentence imposed and substitute therefor a sentence of 52 months dating from the
same date as that imposed by the sheriff.