Sanders, R. v

For an automatic life sentence under section 109, the earlier serious offence must satisfy the territorial requirement in section 109(5). A military conviction for conduct committed abroad is not converted into an offence committed in England and Wales merely because section 114 treats the offender as convicted there of the corresponding civil offence.

Where an automatic life sentence was imposed without jurisdiction, the Court of Appeal may quash it and impose an extended sentence under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, provided it does not impose a sentence of greater severity and the ordinary licence period would be inadequate to prevent further offending and secure rehabilitation.

The applicant pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to wounding with intent and affray. The judge imposed an automatic life sentence for the wounding offence under section 109 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, treating a 1998 German court-martial conviction for an offence corresponding to section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 as the required earlier serious offence.

The application for leave to appeal was substantially out of time because the jurisdiction point had not been raised at sentence. The Court granted an extension and leave because the point was important. The central issue was whether the overseas court-martial conviction could qualify under section 109.

1. Appeal allowed. The automatic life sentence was imposed without jurisdiction and was quashed.

2. Section 109(5) of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 requires the earlier serious offence to have been committed in England and Wales. The corresponding provisions for Scotland and Northern Ireland reinforced that territorial structure.

3. Section 114(1) deems a person convicted under the Army Act 1955 of an offence corresponding to a serious civil offence to have been convicted in England and Wales of that civil offence. It does not deem conduct committed in Germany to have been committed in England and Wales. The fact that military law applied to a civil offence committed either in the United Kingdom or elsewhere did not alter that conclusion.

4. The 1998 court-martial conviction could therefore not be the earlier serious offence required by section 109. The sentencing judge lacked jurisdiction to pass an automatic life sentence.

5. The Court would not impose a sentence more severe than that imposed below and did not alter the determinate element identified by the sentencing judge. It was nevertheless entitled to impose an extended sentence under section 85. Given the present violence and the applicant's previous convictions, the ordinary licence period would be inadequate to prevent further offending and secure rehabilitation.

6. An extended period of five years beyond the determinate sentence was imposed.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Allowed the appeal against sentence, quashed the automatic life sentence, and imposed an extended sentence.
• Burnley Crown Court: On 25 May 2004 imposed an automatic life sentence for wounding with intent under section 109 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, with a concurrent sentence for affray.