Williams, R v

For repeat domestic burglary subject to the statutory minimum under Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, the sentence must remain proportionate to the particular offence. However, a persistent history of domestic burglary, further burglaries taken into consideration, and offending while on licence may justify a substantial increase above the statutory minimum. Full credit for a guilty plea is then applied to the properly assessed custodial starting point.

The Attorney General referred a sentence for domestic burglary as unduly lenient. The offender had pleaded guilty to one burglary and asked for five further dwelling-house burglaries to be taken into consideration.

The Crown Court at Nottingham imposed two years and six months’ imprisonment. The offender had extensive previous convictions for burglary, had repeatedly been sentenced under the statutory minimum regime, and committed all six current offences while on licence. The central issue was whether the sentence properly reflected the seriousness and persistence of the offending.

1. The reference was allowed. The court granted leave and substituted three years and eight months’ imprisonment for the sentence of two years and six months.
2. The statutory minimum regime in section 111 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 applied. The court accepted that the indexed burglary was at the boundary of categories 1 and 2 under the burglary guideline, but that assessment did not determine the appropriate sentence for this persistent repeat offender.
3. The offender had previously been sentenced on seven occasions for domestic burglary. Earlier sentences, including a five-year term and subsequent substantial custodial terms, had not prevented or inhibited continued offending. This history was a major aggravating feature.
4. The court also gave weight to the five further dwelling-house burglaries taken into consideration and to the fact that every current offence had been committed while the offender was on licence. Those matters indicated a custodial starting point of at least five years and six months before mitigation.
5. The offender’s early guilty plea, admissions and personal mitigation were relevant. Applying full credit for the guilty plea to that starting point produced a sentence of 44 months’ imprisonment. The Crown Court’s 30-month sentence was therefore unduly lenient.

1. Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) — On an Attorney General’s reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the court allowed the reference and increased the sentence: [2018] EWCA Crim 2155.
2. Crown Court at Nottingham — On 4 May 2018, imposed two years and six months’ imprisonment following a guilty plea to domestic burglary, with five further burglaries taken into consideration.