Wealleans, Re

When fixing a minimum term under the transitional provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must compare the period indicated by the pre-existing tariff-setting practice with the period produced by applying the statutory approach. The lower period must be imposed. The assessment requires consideration of the seriousness of the offence, including the relevant aggravating and mitigating features. Where those features balance each other, the applicable starting point determines the provisional period.

The defendant had been convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial judge identified a 14-year punitive period, and the Secretary of State subsequently fixed the tariff at 14 years. The defendant applied under Schedule 22 paragraph 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for the minimum term to be set.

The court considered the former tariff-setting practice and the statutory approach under the 2003 Act. The central issue was which of the two resulting periods was lower and therefore had to be imposed.

1. The application was determined without an oral hearing. The court was required to apply Schedule 22 paragraph 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

2. Under the pre-existing practice, the relevant benchmark was the practice communicated by Lord Bingham CJ in 1997, under which 14 years was appropriate for a normal and unexceptional murder. The court treated this murder as falling within that category.

3. The mitigating features were the defendant’s age, good character and lack of premeditation. The aggravating features were the victim’s age and vulnerability, the ferocity of the attack and the defendant’s lack of remorse. Those factors balanced each other. The period under the former practice was therefore 14 years.

4. Under the statutory approach, Schedule 21 provided a starting point of 15 years. Applying the same aggravating and mitigating features, which again balanced each other, produced a period likely to exceed 14 years.

5. The lower period had to be imposed. The minimum term was set at 14 years from 27 January 1999, less the period of 10 months and 13 days already spent in custody. The resulting period to be served was 11 years and 47 days before the defendant could be considered for parole.

First-instance minimum-term determination under Schedule 22 paragraph 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. No prior appellate decision is stated in the judgment.