PM, R. v

In assessing whether a sentence for repeated rape is excessive, the court may test the sentence by identifying the implied post-trial starting point and the credit allowed for guilty pleas. A substantial sentence may be justified where offences against a child involve a grave breach of parental trust, prolonged sexual abuse, threats, control and pregnancy. Where an implied post-trial sentence is within the sentencing judge’s discretion, a reduction of about one quarter for guilty pleas may produce an appropriate total sentence.

The appellant pleaded guilty in the Crown Court at Cardiff to three specimen counts of rape of his stepdaughter and two assaults. The sexual offending continued over more than two years, beginning when the complainant was 16. She believed that the appellant was her biological father.

He was sentenced to concurrent terms of 8, 10 and 12 years’ imprisonment, producing a total of 12 years. He challenged the sentence as excessive, contending that the starting point was too high and that insufficient credit had been given for his guilty pleas. The appeal concerned the proper sentence after allowing for the seriousness and aggravating features of the offending, the complainant’s age, the appellant’s mental health and the pleas.

1. Appeal dismissed. The total sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment was entirely appropriate.

2. The court treated the sentence as implying a post-trial sentence of about 16 years, assuming that the appellant had received credit of approximately one quarter for his guilty pleas. A sentence of that length after a contested trial would have been well within the sentencing judge’s discretion.

3. The seriousness of the offending supported that conclusion. The appellant repeatedly raped his stepdaughter over a prolonged period. The complainant believed that he was her biological father. The offences involved a grave breach of trust, controlling conduct, threats intended to secure silence and pregnancy when she was 16.

4. The complainant was over 16, and the court considered the submissions concerning the applicable sentencing bracket and the appellant’s mental health. Those matters did not make the implied post-trial sentence excessive. Applying the approximately quarter reduction for the pleas led to the imposed total of 12 years.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): dismissed the sentence appeal in [2009] EWCA Crim 2202.
• Crown Court at Cardiff: on 3 April 2009, His Honour Judge Morris QC imposed concurrent sentences for three rapes and two assaults, totalling 12 years’ imprisonment.