A M & Ors, R v

Under Criminal Justice Act 2003, Schedule 21 starting-point criteria are normally applicable but are neither exhaustive nor inflexible. The sentencing judge must assess the seriousness of the individual murder, explain the starting point selected and achieve a just result without mechanical classification.

Where injury or death results from a knife or other weapon, its use is always aggravating. Although a knife was not then expressly identified as a starting-point criterion, its use and the circumstances of its use may materially increase seriousness. Sentencing may properly reflect deterrence and public protection, while retaining proper regard to mitigation and avoiding double counting.

Three applicants sought leave to appeal minimum terms imposed following convictions for murder committed with knives in public places.

• A M, aged nearly 18 at the offence, received detention during Her Majesty’s Pleasure with a 14-year specified period after a single fatal abdominal stab during a robbery.
• Juress Kika, aged 18, received custody for life with a 19-year minimum term after he and two others pursued and repeatedly stabbed an unprovoking 16-year-old victim.
• Abdul Saddique, aged 25 and on licence for a serious violent offence, pleaded guilty to murder and wounding with intent. He received life imprisonment with a 21-year minimum term and a concurrent eight-year sentence for wounding.

The common issue was whether the individual minimum terms were excessive, particularly given the aggravating effect of knife use within the Schedule 21 framework of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

1. The court refused all three applications for leave to appeal against sentence. None of the minimum terms was excessive or wrong in principle.

2. The statutory framework, including Schedule 21 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, requires a sentence reflecting the seriousness of the crime. Its normal starting-point criteria are not exhaustive and must not be applied inflexibly. The judge must select and explain the appropriate starting point after assessing the individual seriousness of the murder, and must ultimately achieve a just result. The court applied the approach stated in R v Height and Anderson [2009] 1 Cr App R(S) 656.

3. Although knife murders did not then attract the same normal starting point as murders committed with firearms or explosives, knife use was always an aggravating feature where it caused injury or death. Paragraph 10 of Schedule 21 was illustrative, not exhaustive. The circumstances of carrying and using the knife, including its deliberate use against vulnerable victims, could substantially aggravate seriousness. Deterrence and public protection were also proper sentencing considerations, consistently with R v Povey [2008] 1 Cr App R(S) 42.

4. In A M’s case, his age had already reduced the statutory starting point, and the judge was entitled to weigh the absence of an intent to kill against the deliberate use of a knife on a vulnerable part of the victim’s body. The 14-year term was proper.

5. Kika’s attack was a revenge killing by an armed group which hunted down and repeatedly stabbed an innocent victim. There was no meaningful mitigation beyond matters already considered, principally age. The 19-year term was plainly not excessive.

6. Saddique deliberately armed himself, sought violence, attacked two unarmed victims, and committed the offences while on licence for serious violence. The late guilty plea received sufficient credit. The court found no double counting in the 21-year minimum term because the case involved two distinct violent offences.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) In the present judgment, [2009] EWCA Crim 2544, the court refused all three applications for leave to appeal against sentence.
• Central Criminal Court A M was convicted of murder on 21 August 2009 and received a 14-year specified period.
• Central Criminal Court Juress Kika was convicted of murder on 11 June 2009 and received custody for life with a 19-year minimum term.
• Central Criminal Court Abdul Saddique pleaded guilty to murder and wounding with intent and, on 30 July 2009, received life imprisonment with a 21-year minimum term and a concurrent eight-year sentence.