Macdivitt, R. v

A sentence should remain within the applicable guideline range unless the aggravating features justify departure. Similar previous convictions may aggravate a robbery sentence, but their weight depends on their age, any substantial period without offending, and the seriousness of the current offence. Where the current offence is a single robbery causing no significant injury, old convictions may justify a sentence at the top of the range without justifying a sentence above it. This decision establishes no general rule on when aggravating features permit movement outside a guideline range.

The appellant pleaded guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court to robbery. He snatched a handbag from a young woman with autism at a bus station at night. The victim was shaken and experienced shoulder pain, but suffered no significant injury.

The sentencing judge treated the offence as category 2B, with a range of three to six years’ custody. Relying principally on similar robbery convictions in 2008, the judge selected a sentence of seven years before credit for the early guilty plea, resulting in four years and eight months’ imprisonment.

The appeal challenged the weight given to the old convictions and, in writing, the treatment of mitigation.

1. The appeal was allowed. The court quashed the sentence of four years and eight months’ imprisonment and substituted a sentence of four years’ imprisonment.

2. The judge had considered all available mitigation. The appellant received full credit for his very early guilty plea. The further complaint about remorse and a positive approach therefore disclosed no sentencing error.

3. The sentence was nevertheless excessive because the judge placed too much weight on the previous offending when moving beyond the guideline range. The most relevant similar convictions were by then old. There had also been a substantial period without offending, and the present case involved one robbery with no significant injury.

4. The victim’s vulnerability, that of her companion, and the circumstances of the robbery made the offence serious and justified a substantial custodial sentence. They justified selecting the top of the applicable range, but did not make a sentence above that range necessary on these facts.

5. The court substituted a notional sentence before plea credit of six years. After full credit for the plea, the custodial term was four years. The court expressly declined to establish any general principle about when aggravating features permit a sentencer to move outside a guideline bracket.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Allowed the appeal against sentence and substituted four years’ imprisonment: [2018] EWCA Crim 1505.

• Wolverhampton Crown Court: On 19 January 2018, following a guilty plea to robbery, imposed four years and eight months’ imprisonment.