Stephenson & Ors, R v

For organised supply of firearms and lethal ammunition, a sentencing court must expressly consider a life sentence. If it imposes a determinate sentence, it must impose a long sentence that reflects the offender’s place in the enterprise, role in individual transfers, the weapons and ammunition involved, the enterprise’s scale and sophistication, and relevant previous gun offending.

A previous case did not establish a 22-year ceiling for a leader of a gun-supplying enterprise. The source of the weapons, whether imported, converted or acquired, does not diminish the criminality of organising their supply. Those who purchase or help put guns and lethal ammunition into circulation require severe sentences proportionate to their respective roles.

The Solicitor General referred, under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, sentences imposed by HH Judge Burbidge QC at Birmingham Crown Court on 17 offenders. The offenders had pleaded guilty to, or been convicted of, conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons and ammunition.

The conspiracy operated in Birmingham from March 2014 to January 2015. It obtained or restored firearms, manufactured or sourced lethal ammunition, and supplied weapons to criminal customers. The references concerned the leaders and facilitators of the enterprise, purchasers on four identified occasions, and intermediaries who assisted the transfers.

The central issue was whether the sentences were unduly lenient in light of the gravity of organised gun supply and the individual roles of the offenders.

1. The Attorney General’s references were allowed save as to Mattu. The court granted leave in every reference. It held that all but one of the challenged sentences were unduly lenient, quashed them and substituted higher sentences. Mattu’s five-year sentence was within the range permitted by the offence charged and its then maximum penalty, and was not altered.

2. Criminals who deal in lethal weapons present a serious public danger. A court must therefore expressly consider a life sentence. Where a life sentence is not imposed, R v Wilkinson [2009] EWCA Crim 1925 requires long determinate sentences commensurate with the offender’s role in supplying guns. The court accepted the sentencing judge’s decisions not to impose life sentences, but held that the determinate terms imposed were generally too low.

3. The seriousness assessment was informed by the questions in R v Avis [1998] 1 Cr App R 420. It depended upon the lethal capability of the firearms and ammunition, the knowledge that they were acquired to kill or injure, the likelihood of that use, and each offender’s record. For a leader of a sophisticated supply enterprise, 25 years before plea credit was appropriate on these facts. The court clarified that the 11-year minimum term in Wilkinson did not create a 22-year maximum for a determinate sentence.

4. The hierarchy of the enterprise and the individual transaction remained essential. A purchaser who knowingly obtains a gun and lethal ammunition for criminal purposes requires a severe sentence. An intermediary who assists in putting them into circulation should not ordinarily have a starting point below eight years, with substantially greater sentences for significant assistance. The fact that weapons were converted or acquired rather than imported did not reduce the gravity of the organised supply.

5. The court substituted sentences of 22 years for Stephenson; 17 years 3 months for Nazran; 13 years 4 months for Wiggan; 16 years 9 months for Gul; 12 years 8 months for McDermott; and 10 years 8 months for Ducram. It also increased the sentences for the purchasers and intermediaries, including firearms terms of 13 years 6 months for Miah and 10 years 6 months for Ifran Hussain.

6. The court gave additional procedural guidance. A defendant’s basis of plea should be advanced when the plea is entered. If it is disputed, a Newton hearing should then be arranged; delay or prevarication about the offender’s role may justify no, or only nominal, plea credit. It also endorsed the judge’s exclusion, under R v Wiwczaryk [1980] 2 Cr App R (S) 309, of time Stephenson had spent in custody on a murder charge of which he had been acquitted.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). On Attorney General’s references under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the court granted leave, held 16 sentences unduly lenient and substituted higher terms: [2016] EWCA Crim 54.
• Birmingham Crown Court. HH Judge Burbidge QC sentenced the offenders on 27 November 2015 and 22 January 2016 following guilty pleas or convictions for conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons and ammunition.