Collins & Ors, R v

For sentencing an offence under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, particularly grave injury is not confined to permanent injury. Permanence is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition. The assessment is evaluative and depends on the nature and consequences of the injury.

Penetrating gunshot wounds to vital areas, causing bowel perforations and major surgery, were particularly grave. A premeditated group attack involving a loaded firearm and two deliberate shots in separate phases was among the most serious cases in the highest sentencing category. Deterrent and punitive sentences were properly imposed.

Three appellants were convicted at the Central Criminal Court of causing grievous bodily harm with intent after agreeing to confront the complainant while one of them carried a firearm. During the confrontation, the complainant was shot twice. One bullet perforated his colon in several places and led to a colostomy and later reversal surgery; the other remained in his groin.

The sentencing judge held that the injuries were particularly grave and placed the offence in the highest Sentencing Guidelines Council category. Collins and Barrett received 14 years’ imprisonment and Thompson received 10 years. Their appeals challenged the classification of the injuries as particularly grave.

1. The appeals were dismissed. The court held that the sentencing judge was entitled to treat the injuries as particularly grave and to impose the sentences selected.

2. The expression particularly grave injury in the sentencing guidelines is not a synonym for permanent injury. A non-permanent injury may be particularly grave, while a permanent injury, such as a scar, may not be. The court did not need to decide whether an injury may also become particularly grave because of its particular subjective effect on the victim.

3. The complainant’s injuries were particularly grave. The shots were aimed at vital areas. One passed close to the liver and kidney, perforated the colon in several places, and required two major operations. The injuries were also potentially lethal. The highest category therefore applied to this premeditated use of a weapon brought to the scene with intent to injure.

4. The sentences properly reflected serious aggravating features: a group attack, use of a loaded firearm, and two shots fired in separate phases of the incident. The court treated the use of a firearm as especially serious and noted the deterrent and punitive approach described in Wilkinson [2009] EWCA Crim. 1925. The sentences of 14 years for Collins and Barrett, and 10 years for Thompson, were deserved.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Sentence appeals dismissed: [2009] EWCA Crim 2534.
• Central Criminal Court: The appellants were convicted of an offence under section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 on 26 January 2009 and sentenced on 17 February 2009.