Symmons, R v

An offender’s age and the possibility that a minimum term may result in death in prison are material sentencing considerations. They are not determinative. The court must assess the seriousness of the murder and the offender’s culpability in the round.

The aggravating and mitigating features in Criminal Justice Act 2003, Schedule 21, are neither exhaustive nor prescriptive. A sentencing judge must balance all relevant features without applying fixed uplifts or discounts. An appellate court will not interfere where the minimum term is not manifestly excessive.

The respondent was convicted at St Albans Crown Court of murdering his wife and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years. The trial judge found that the killing was impulsive but intentional, that neither self-defence nor provocation materially reduced culpability, and that the respondent’s conduct after the killing was seriously aggravating.

An earlier appeal against conviction, based substantially on fresh psychiatric evidence, had been dismissed on 7 April 2009. In this appeal, the respondent challenged the minimum term. He relied principally on his age, the prospect that he might die in prison, alleged provocation, personality problems, and his conduct in custody.

The central issue was whether the 16-year minimum term was manifestly excessive.

1. The appeal against sentence was dismissed. The minimum term of 16 years was not manifestly excessive.

2. The sentencing judge was entitled to find that the respondent launched a sustained and savage attack after losing his temper. The absence of premeditation did not reduce the seriousness of an intentional killing. The judge was also entitled to reject the alleged taunting and provocation. There was ample evidence supporting the view that the respondent’s account was unreliable.

3. The respondent’s personality problems and emotional difficulties did not materially diminish his culpability. He was not suffering from a depressive illness when he killed his wife, and the judge had taken the relevant personal circumstances into account.

4. Age may be material where a minimum term could mean that an offender dies in prison. It is nevertheless only one factor in sentencing. A mature offender who commits murder with a 15-year starting point will inevitably grow old in prison, and age cannot determine the appropriate finishing point.

5. The features in Schedule 21 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 are not exhaustive or prescriptive. The sentencing judge must assess the offender, culpability and gravity of the offence, then balance all aggravating and mitigating matters. The trial judge had done so and was better placed than the appellate court to assess the case.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): dismissed the appeal against sentence: [2009] EWCA Crim 1304.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): an earlier appeal against conviction was dismissed on 7 April 2009; its citation is not stated in the judgment.

• Crown Court at St Albans: convicted the respondent of murder on 11 December 2006 and imposed life imprisonment with a 16-year minimum term.