Evans v R

For an adult convicted of a specified prohibited-firearm offence, Firearms Act 1968, section 51A requires a custodial term of at least five years unless exceptional circumstances relating to the offence or offender justify a lesser term. Exceptional circumstances are rare. An offender's obsessive-compulsive symptoms and compulsion to acquire and retain firearms will not ordinarily meet that threshold where the offender knew that possession was unlawful, understood the public-safety implications, and deliberately retained the weapon. Even if the statutory exception is established, the court must still impose the sentence warranted by ordinary sentencing principles. Serious breach of trust, the quantity and type of firearms and ammunition, prolonged possession, and deterrence may justify a five-year sentence independently of the statutory minimum.

The appellant, a civilian station reception officer, pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court to theft, possession of ammunition without a certificate, possession of prohibited expanding ammunition, and possession of a prohibited self-loading pistol. He had stolen 1,139 rounds of ammunition handed in at the police station and possessed a range of weapons and ammunition at home, including firearms concealed beneath floorboards.

On 20 January 2005, Judge Platt imposed concurrent terms, resulting in a total sentence of five years' imprisonment for the prohibited-firearm count. The appellant appealed against sentence. He relied on previous good character, his guilty plea and a psychologist's evidence of severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and depression. The central issue was whether those matters amounted to exceptional circumstances under section 51A of the Firearms Act 1968 and, if so, whether the overall sentence remained appropriate.

1. Appeal dismissed. The court upheld the total sentence of five years' imprisonment.
2. Section 51A of the Firearms Act 1968 required at least five years' custody for this adult offender's conviction concerning the prohibited self-loading pistol, unless exceptional circumstances relating to the offence or offender justified a lesser term. The statutory exception was narrow. Jordan, Alleyne and Redfern [2004] EWCA Crim 3291 illustrated that real exceptional circumstances would be rare. R v Blackall [2005] EWCA Crim 1128 provided a materially different example, where paraplegia made imprisonment substantially more severe.
3. The appellant's psychological condition was not exceptional in this context. He knew what he was doing and that it was wrong. He nevertheless retained the prohibited weapon, which required a specialist firearms search team to locate. Feelings of compulsion to obtain and store guns did not constitute exceptional circumstances for an intelligent offender who understood the public-safety concerns addressed by the statute.
4. Further and independently, a total sentence in the region of five years was appropriate even if the condition had met the statutory threshold. The appellant had used a responsible police position to steal ammunition. The quantity, range and type of firearms and ammunition, the duration and manner of possession, and the need for deterrence justified a severe sentence despite the substantial mitigation.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) — in [2005] EWCA Crim 1811, dismissed the appeal against sentence.
• Crown Court at Snaresbrook — on 20 January 2005, imposed concurrent sentences producing a total of five years' imprisonment following guilty pleas.