Adjei, R v

For rape sentencing under the Sentencing Council guideline, psychological harm warrants category 2 treatment only where its seriousness is comparable with the other category 2 factors. Violence beyond that inherent in the offence and the targeting of a lone woman at night may nevertheless elevate the offence from category 3B to category 2B.

The court must then reflect all further aggravating features, including associated sexual offending, theft, relevant similar convictions and offending while subject to a court order. Youth, immaturity and psychological difficulties remain mitigating factors, but may not prevent a sentence from being unduly lenient where the overall seriousness calls for a substantially longer term.

Following a trial at the Crown Court at Wood Green, Michael Adjei was convicted of rape, attempted rape and theft. The offences arose when he followed a lone woman at night, forced her to perform oral sex, attempted further rape and stole her handbag.

The Recorder imposed concurrent terms of five years’ imprisonment for rape and attempted rape, and 18 months for theft. The Solicitor General referred the sentence as unduly lenient. The central issue was whether the Recorder had wrongly placed the rape in category 3B, rather than category 2B, under the rape sentencing guideline and had failed adequately to reflect the aggravating features.

1. The reference was allowed. The court granted leave under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and held that the five-year sentence for rape was unduly lenient.

2. The Recorder had treated the rape as category 3B, with a starting point of five years. The court accepted that, although the victim suffered psychological harm, it was not sufficiently serious to amount by itself to the category 2 level envisaged by the guideline.

3. However, the offender deliberately banged the victim’s head on the ground. That was violence beyond that inherent in rape, albeit not at the most serious level. He had also targeted a lone woman at night. Those harm and culpability features placed the offence more clearly in category 2B, with a starting point of eight years, than in category 3B.

4. The court also treated as aggravating the attempted further rape, the theft of the victim’s bag, the offender’s relevant record for serious similar sexual offending, and the fact that he was subject to a youth rehabilitation order when he offended.

5. The offender’s youth, immaturity and psychological problems mitigated sentence. They did not justify the original term when the full seriousness of all three offences was considered. A term of seven years’ imprisonment on the rape count was appropriate and reflected the other offences. The concurrent sentences for attempted rape and theft remained unchanged.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) In an Attorney General’s reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the court held the sentence unduly lenient and substituted seven years’ imprisonment for the rape count: [2017] EWCA Crim 2510.
• Crown Court at Wood Green Following a trial, the offender was convicted of rape, attempted rape and theft. The Recorder imposed concurrent terms of five years, five years and 18 months respectively.