Manning, Re Review of Minimum Term

On a review of a notified minimum term for a mandatory life sentence, the court must apply the statutory criteria in Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003. It must assess seriousness by reference to Schedule 21, together with relevant custody, remand credit and the notified term. The court cannot specify a term exceeding that notified by the Secretary of State. Schedule 21 provides a structured starting point, but the assessment is not mechanistic. Dangerousness is a matter for the Parole Board. The term was maintained at 18 years, subject to credit for 185 days spent on remand.

The applicant had been sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment in 1995 for murdering his former wife. The trial judge and Lord Chief Justice recommended an 18-year minimum term, which the Secretary of State notified. The applicant applied under section 276 and paragraph 3 of Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for review.

The central issues were whether an oral hearing was necessary, what term resulted from the statutory assessment, and whether the term should be reduced below 18 years.

1. Procedure. Applications of this kind will normally be determined without an oral hearing. A hearing will be rare where the written issues are clear and oral development would not assist. The approach in R (Hammond) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] EWHC 2753 was applied. The request for an oral hearing was refused.
2. Statutory assessment. The court had to consider seriousness, relevant custody and remand credit, Schedule 21, and the recommendations of the trial judge and Lord Chief Justice. The notified term imposed an upper limit, so the court could not specify more than 18 years.
3. Sentencing principles. Schedule 21 required selection of a starting point followed by consideration of aggravating and mitigating factors. The exercise was not mechanical. Dangerousness was not relevant to the minimum-term assessment and remained for the Parole Board.
4. Application. The murder warranted the 30-year starting point. Planning, premeditation and the brutal associated attack were aggravating features. A one-sixth reduction for the guilty plea produced 25 years. There was no proper basis for reducing the term below 18 years.
5. Order. The minimum term was specified as 18 years, less 185 days for remand credit. The early-release provisions in section 28(5) to (8) of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 were to apply once that term had been served.

The judgment records the original 1995 mandatory life sentence, the trial judge’s and Lord Chief Justice’s 18-year recommendations, and the Secretary of State’s notification of an 18-year term. The present application was a review under Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003. No prior appellate decision is stated.