Attorney General's Reference No 90 of 2004

For causing death by dangerous driving, the sentencing starting point must reflect the offender’s culpability under the applicable guideline. Driving through red traffic lights which have been displayed for a substantial period, and then through an occupied pedestrian crossing without braking or evasive action, may amount to most serious culpability.

After selecting the starting point, the court should avoid double counting while taking account of distinct aggravating and mitigating features. On an Attorney General’s reference, an unduly lenient sentence may be increased, but the substituted sentence should reflect the double jeopardy of being sentenced again.

The offender pleaded guilty at Coventry Crown Court to causing death by dangerous driving and making off without payment. He drove through red traffic lights and an occupied pelican crossing, killing Mrs McPartland and injuring two other pedestrians. He then drove away dangerously.

The Crown Court imposed three and a half years’ imprisonment for causing death by dangerous driving, with concurrent imprisonment for the making-off offence. The Attorney General referred the sentence under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 as unduly lenient.

The issue was whether the sentence properly reflected the seriousness of the driving, the additional aggravating features, the guilty plea and the double jeopardy arising from the reference.

1. The Court granted leave to refer and held that the sentence of three and a half years’ imprisonment was unduly lenient.

2. Applying the sentencing guidance in R v Cooksley and Others [2004] 1 Cr App R(S) 1, the Court held that the offending fell clearly within the category of most serious culpability. The offender drove through traffic lights that had shown red for a considerable time and then through an occupied pedestrian crossing. Mrs Briggs was highly visible in her crossing-patrol uniform, with her arms outstretched and a patrol sign in her hand. There was no apparent braking or evasive action.

3. The guideline starting point following conviction after a contested trial was six years or more. The Court held that seven years was appropriate before credit for the guilty plea, having regard to the exceptionally dangerous driving and the separate aggravating features. Those features included driving uninsured and without a licence, causing serious injury as well as death, failing to stop, dangerous driving after the collision, previous motoring convictions, breach of a community order and driving to obtain drugs.

4. The early guilty plea and limited remorse reduced the appropriate sentence below to five and a half years’ imprisonment. However, the Court also allowed for the double jeopardy involved in a renewed sentencing exercise on an Attorney General’s reference. It therefore granted the reference and substituted four and a half years’ imprisonment.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) — granted the Attorney General’s reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, held the sentence unduly lenient and substituted four and a half years’ imprisonment: [2004] EWCA Crim 3285.
• Crown Court at Coventry — following guilty pleas, imposed three and a half years’ imprisonment for causing death by dangerous driving and a concurrent three months’ imprisonment for making off without payment. No citation was stated.