Akman, R. v

When reviewing sentence, a maximum unpaid-work requirement must remain proportionate to the facts and to the other sentencing requirements imposed. Compensation for personal injury should reflect the medical evidence, the nature of any wound or scar, and the level of civil damages ordinarily awarded for comparable injury. An appellate court may vary those discrete components while leaving the remaining sentence intact.

The appellant pleaded guilty at Preston Crown Court to unlawful wounding after the prosecution accepted a plea of not guilty to a charge of wounding with intent. He had struck the complainant in the face with a wine glass during a single, rapid incident outside a public house.

He received 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with supervision, 300 hours’ unpaid work, compensation of £3,000, and prosecution costs. The appeal challenged only the unpaid-work and compensation requirements.

1. Appeal allowed in part. The court varied the sentence by reducing both the unpaid-work and compensation requirements. The suspended custodial sentence, supervision requirement and other orders remained unchanged.

2. An unpaid-work requirement was appropriate given the seriousness of an assault involving a glass in a public-house setting. However, 300 hours was the statutory maximum and was excessive when assessed against the facts as a whole and the fact that a 12-month custodial sentence had already been suspended for two years. The court quashed that requirement and substituted 150 hours.

3. The court assessed compensation by reference to the medical evidence, photographs, and the ordinary civil level of damages for a wound or scar of this kind. The complainant had a forehead wound of about 2.5 centimetres, a nosebleed and slight bruising, but the injury had been treated with glue and she was discharged. Compensation of £3,000 was excessive. The court substituted £1,000.

4. All other aspects of the sentence stood.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): allowed the sentence appeal in part and varied the unpaid-work and compensation requirements.
• Crown Court at Preston: in November 2008 imposed a suspended sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment with supervision, 300 hours’ unpaid work, £3,000 compensation and prosecution costs following a plea of guilty to unlawful wounding.