Dillon v R

For paragraph 5A of Schedule 21 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, whether a knife was taken to the scene depends on the place to which it was carried. Moving it within the same home, including to a balcony, will not normally suffice. Taking it outside the home, on to a landing, into the street, or to a distinct part of premises will normally suffice.

The 25-year term is a starting point, not a fixed outcome. The court must assess all aggravating and mitigating features and avoid unjustified disparity founded on fine distinctions. Stale and relatively minor antecedents may carry little or no aggravating weight in sentencing for murder.

The appellant appealed, with leave of the single judge, against the minimum term imposed following his conviction for murder at the Crown Court at St Albans.

After the deceased banged on the appellant’s flat door, the appellant opened it and inflicted a fatal stab wound in the communal area. He also struck the deceased’s head with the knife. The sentencing judge treated the knife as having been taken to the scene under paragraph 5A of Schedule 21 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, adopted a 25-year starting point, and imposed a minimum term of 22 years.

The central issue was whether paragraph 5A applied and whether the minimum term gave proper weight to aggravating and mitigating features.

1. Appeal allowed. The court quashed the minimum term of 22 years and substituted a minimum term of 20 years.

2. The case fell within paragraph 5A of Schedule 21 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The authorities showed that a knife moved only within the same flat or house, including to a balcony, will not normally have been taken to the scene. By contrast, a knife taken outside the home, to a landing outside a flat, or to a distinct part of premises will normally satisfy the provision. The appellant’s knife fell within the latter category.

3. The court applied the approach in Kelly and others [2011] EWCA Crim 1462. Schedule 21 identifies normal starting points. It does not impose fixed compartments or prevent a just minimum term below 25 years where the facts and mitigation warrant it.

4. The second knife attack, after the fatal chest wound, made the offence more serious than one involving a single blow just outside a front door. However, the sentencing judge had given excessive significance to the appellant’s antecedents. His dishonesty convictions were almost entirely immaterial. His old and relatively minor convictions for violence had only limited significance.

5. The lack of intent to kill, lack of premeditation, and real fear that violence would be used against him required greater weight. A 20-year minimum term was therefore appropriate.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Allowed the appeal against sentence and substituted a 20-year minimum term: [2015] EWCA Crim 3.
• Crown Court at St Albans Following conviction for murder, His Honour Judge Gullick set a minimum term of 22 years.