Parish, R v

For a conspiracy to transfer prohibited firearms, sentence must reflect the offender’s place in the supply hierarchy, role in the transaction, quantity and lethality of the weapons and ammunition, and relevant previous convictions. A courier acting for modest financial reward may be less culpable than a trusted facilitator, but knowingly delivering several lethal prohibited firearms and substantial ammunition remains very serious offending.

The court must first determine the appropriate sentence after trial, allowing for aggravation and personal mitigation, and only then apply guilty-plea credit. Credit depends on the first reasonable opportunity to indicate guilt and the circumstances of the indication. Exceptionally, where a judicial indication has induced a plea to a materially different count, fairness may require the promised full credit to be retained.

The Attorney General referred as unduly lenient the sentences imposed at Inner London Crown Court on Thomas Parish and Michael Redford. Both had pleaded guilty on the day fixed for trial to conspiracy to transfer prohibited firearms. They had transported five prohibited revolvers and 322 live rounds of ammunition for delivery to criminals in return for payment.

The sentencing judge adopted a nine-year starting point, gave one-third credit for the guilty pleas, and made further reductions for personal mitigation. Parish received five years’ detention in a young offender institution and Redford received five years and six months’ imprisonment. The central issues were the proper after-trial sentences, the order in which mitigation and plea credit should be applied, and whether an earlier judicial indication required full credit for the late pleas.

1. The Attorney General’s reference was granted. The original sentences were unduly lenient. They were quashed and replaced by seven years and four months’ detention in a young offender institution for Parish, and eight years’ imprisonment for Redford.

2. Although section 51A did not apply directly to conspiracy to transfer a prohibited firearm, it expressed Parliament’s concern about gun crime. The court applied the sentencing approach in Stephenson [2016] EWCA Crim 54. Sentencing must reflect the supply hierarchy, the offender’s role and any firearms-related convictions. These offenders were couriers, rather than trusted facilitators or purchasers, but their delivery of five lethal revolvers and 322 live rounds was an important step in placing weapons into criminal use.

3. The weapons’ relatively low power did not materially reduce their gravity. Each weapon and round was capable of killing or wounding. The number of firearms and quantity of ammunition were grave aggravating features. The appropriate sentences after trial were not less than 11 years for Parish and 12 years for Redford.

4. The sentencing judge adopted the wrong sequence. The court must first fix the sentence after trial after considering both aggravating and mitigating features. It must then make any reduction for a guilty plea. Under section 144 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the decisive questions are when the offender indicated an intention to plead guilty and the circumstances of that indication. The fact that the conspiracy count was added on the trial date did not ordinarily justify full credit, because both offenders had long denied knowledge and possession. Ordinarily, no more than 20%, or at most 25%, credit could properly have been allowed.

5. Nevertheless, the judge had given an unspecific and inappropriate indication that full credit would be available for a plea to a new count. The indication created an incentive to plead guilty, and the count ultimately added differed materially from the original counts because it did not allege intent to endanger life. In those exceptional circumstances, it would be unjust to withdraw the full credit on which the offenders had acted. Full credit was therefore retained when calculating the substituted sentences.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): The Attorney General’s reference was granted. The sentences were quashed and substituted with seven years and four months’ detention for Parish and eight years’ imprisonment for Redford: [2017] EWCA Crim 2064.
• Inner London Crown Court: On 31 August 2017, following guilty pleas to conspiracy to transfer prohibited firearms, Parish was sentenced to five years’ detention in a young offender institution and Redford to five years and six months’ imprisonment.