Morad, R. v

Where a sexual assault falls within the applicable sentencing-guideline bracket, the court must give proper weight to mitigation, including a prompt guilty plea, limited sexual contact and the absence of serious injury. A sentence at the top of the bracket may be manifestly excessive where those features are present.

For separate offending committed while on bail, consecutive sentences may be appropriate. The overall sentence must nevertheless comply with the principle of totality, having regard to the combined criminality, injuries caused and the offender’s lack of previous imprisonment.

The appellant pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to sexual assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The offences were committed against two women who were strangers to him. The second offence was committed while he was on police bail for the first.

He received two years’ imprisonment for the sexual assault and a consecutive 12 months’ imprisonment for the assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He appealed against sentence, contending that the sentences were manifestly excessive in light of his guilty pleas, previous good character, the applicable sexual-offences guideline and totality.

1. Appeal allowed. The total sentence was reduced from three years’ imprisonment to two years’ imprisonment.

2. The sexual assault fell within the Sentencing Guidelines Council Definitive Guideline bracket of 26 weeks to two years’ imprisonment for a contested case. However, two years was manifestly excessive on the facts. The appellant had pleaded guilty promptly, no serious injury had been caused and the sexual element of the assault was limited. Applying the aggravating and mitigating features, the proper sentence for that count was 15 months’ imprisonment.

3. A consecutive sentence for the assault occasioning actual bodily harm was appropriate. It was a wholly separate offence, committed while the appellant was on bail, and involved a persistent violent assault which merited immediate custody.

4. The court nevertheless applied totality. The victim’s physical injuries were minor, no lasting effect appeared from the material before the court, and the appellant had not previously served imprisonment. The sentence for that count was therefore reduced from 12 months to nine months, to run consecutively.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): allowed the appeal against sentence and substituted consecutive sentences of 15 months and nine months’ imprisonment.
• Crown Court at Cardiff: the appellant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for sexual assault and 12 months’ imprisonment consecutively for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.