McDermott, R. v

Assaults on medical and ambulance staff will ordinarily require immediate custody because those performing public service are entitled to the courts’ protection. The length of sentence must nevertheless reflect the facts of the individual case. A previous sentence for an assault on hospital staff is not a tariff or numerical guideline. Alcohol-induced offending is an aggravating, rather than mitigating, feature, especially where previous violent offending has been linked to drink. Previous violence, the injury caused and the circumstances of the attack may justify a materially longer term despite a prompt guilty plea, remorse and steps to address alcohol misuse.

The appellant pleaded guilty before magistrates to assault occasioning actual bodily harm after punching an ambulance worker who had attended him while he was intoxicated. The complainant sustained a ruptured eardrum.

He was committed to the Crown Court at Cardiff and sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, less one day spent on remand. He appealed with leave of the Single Judge, contending that insufficient weight had been given to the sentencing comparison in R v McNally [2000] 1 Cr.App.R (S) 535 and that the sentence was excessive.

1. Appeal dismissed. The term of 15 months’ imprisonment for assault occasioning actual bodily harm was not excessive.

2. Assaults on doctors, nurses, ambulance staff and comparable public servants are serious. Immediate custody will generally be required, since such workers are entitled to the protection of the courts. However, sentence remains dependent on the individual circumstances.

3. R v McNally [2000] 1 Cr.App.R (S) 535 did not prescribe a sentencing tariff. Its general guidance was that attacks on medical staff commonly merit immediate imprisonment and that aggravating and mitigating features must be assessed in the particular case. The appellant’s case was materially different from McNally because he had four convictions for violence, including two relatively recent convictions, and his violence was frequently associated with drink.

4. The appellant’s intoxication did not mitigate the offence. Alcohol was an aggravating feature. His early guilty plea, remorse and recent efforts to control his drinking were properly recognised, but did not require a reduction. The sentence therefore stood.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)—dismissed the sentence appeal: [2006] EWCA Crim 1899.

• Crown Court at Cardiff—on 10 February 2006 imposed 15 months’ imprisonment, less one day on remand, for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

• Magistrates’ Court—on 19 January 2006 accepted the appellant’s guilty plea and committed him to the Crown Court for sentence.