Goodfellow, R. v

Reckless arson directed at a dwelling at night, creating a real risk to sleeping occupants, is an offence of the utmost seriousness for which an immediate custodial sentence will ordinarily be inevitable. Sentencing must nevertheless give proper weight to the offender’s youth, guilty plea and personal mitigation. A sentencing judge must adopt a starting point proportionate to the facts and age of the offenders, informed by comparable sentencing authority.

The appellants, aged 16 and 15 when the offences were committed, pleaded guilty at Sheffield Crown Court to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. One also pleaded guilty to burglary and the other to simple arson.

They had poured petrol over the door, wall and window of an occupied terraced house in the early hours and set it alight. Petrol entered through an open window and ignited curtains. A neighbour raised the alarm, extinguished the fire and rescued the occupants. The sentencing judge imposed five years’ detention on each appellant under section 91 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.

They appealed against sentence, relying on their youth, early guilty pleas and personal mitigation. The issue was whether five years’ detention was manifestly excessive.

1. The appeals were allowed. The sentences of five years’ detention were manifestly excessive and were reduced to three years’ detention under section 91 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.

2. The offence was exceptionally grave. The appellants deliberately set fire to an occupied terraced house at night. But for the neighbour’s courage, the four occupants could have suffered tragic consequences. Nothing other than immediate custody was appropriate.

3. The sentencing judge’s five-year term necessarily reflected a starting point of about seven years. That starting point was too high on these facts for offenders of 16 and 15.

4. The court took particular account of Attorney General's Reference No 5 of 1993 [1994] 15 Cr.App.R (S) 201 and Layla Josephine Parkes 16 Cr.App.R (S) 74, neither of which had apparently been cited to the sentencing judge. Those authorities, together with the appellants’ ages, supported a three-year sentence. Their guilty pleas and personal circumstances remained material mitigation, but did not displace the need for custody.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Allowed the appeals against sentence and substituted three years’ detention under section 91 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.
• Crown Court at Sheffield: On 1 December 2006, imposed five years’ detention under section 91 on each appellant for arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.