Meah, R. v

An appellate court assessing sentence must proceed on the information available to the sentencing judge and consider the offending, subsequent conduct and totality. A custodial sentence for low-level sexual assaults may be justified by unusual circumstances, including repeated offending, relevant concerns about the offender’s mental health, and further violence while on bail. A consecutive sentence for contempt must also be included in the totality assessment. The question is whether the overall sentence is manifestly excessive.

The applicant was convicted after trial at Southwark Crown Court of three sexual assaults contrary to section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. He received concurrent sentences of 12 months’ imprisonment. The sentencing judge also imposed three months’ imprisonment consecutively for contempt of court arising from the applicant’s behaviour when sentence had been adjourned.

The applicant sought leave to appeal against sentence. He contended that the sexual offending was low level, that the sentence was outside the guidelines, and that the overall term of 15 months was excessive.

1. Application for leave to appeal against sentence refused. The overall sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment was not manifestly excessive.
2. The court accepted that 12 months’ imprisonment for the three sexual assaults considered in isolation would have been too high. However, the sentencing judge was entitled to treat the case as unusual. The available reports raised substantial concern about the applicant’s mental health and his lack of engagement with assessment or treatment.
3. The court had to assess sentence on the material that was available to the judge. It also took account of the applicant’s pattern of repeated, if relatively minor, offending and his assault on a woman on a train while on bail for these offences. That later offending had resulted in a two-month sentence.
4. There was no proper complaint about the consecutive three-month sentence for contempt. When the sexual assaults, subsequent offending and contempt were considered together, the total sentence was within the proper sentencing range.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): The Registrar referred the application for leave to appeal against sentence to the Full Court. The application was refused: [2011] EWCA Crim 1264.
• Southwark Crown Court: Following a jury trial, the applicant was convicted of three sexual assaults. He received concurrent 12-month sentences, with a consecutive three-month sentence for contempt of court.