Williams, R. v

Whether a criminal defence is legally available is a question for the judge. Only where a reasonable jury, properly directed, could find the defence made out does the reasonableness of force become a jury question.

Reasonable force cannot be used to retaliate for a completed robbery or wounding, or to recover property after the event. Under section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1967, the prevention-of-crime defence concerns a crime in progress.

In sentencing children for murder, serious aggravating features, including knife use and a ferocious group attack, must be balanced against youth, impetuosity and susceptibility to peer pressure. A two-thirds uplift from the 12-year starting point should be reserved for more serious cases.

Four appellants, all aged 16 at the time, were involved in a group knife attack following an uninvited group’s entry into a birthday party. The victim had stabbed Williams in the arm before leaving the flat, but was pursued, stabbed and killed.

Williams was convicted of murder following a retrial. Glasgow and Nkunku-Linongi were convicted of murder at the first trial. Edusei was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter. Williams renewed his application for permission to appeal his conviction, contending that defences of property and prevention of crime should have been left to the jury. All appellants challenged sentence.

The central issues were whether those defences were legally available, and whether the sentences properly reflected the appellants’ youth and respective culpability.

1. Williams’s renewed application for permission to appeal conviction was dismissed. The trial judge correctly decided whether the proposed defences were legally available. A defence is left to the jury only if a reasonable jury, properly directed, could find it established. The jury question concerning reasonable force, referred to in Attorney-General for Northern Ireland's Reference (No 1 of 1975) [1977] AC 105, arises only after that legal threshold is met.

2. Neither defence of property nor prevention of crime was available. Any robbery or wounding in the flat had ended before the victim left. Williams pursued him, caught him some distance away and stabbed him in the back. This was retaliation or revenge, not reasonable force in defence of property. Section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1967 applies to preventing crimes in progress, not reacting to completed crimes. In any event, no properly directed jury could find the knife force reasonable.

3. The murder sentence appeals of Williams, Nkunku-Linongi and Glasgow were allowed. The sentencing judge was entitled to treat the armed group attack, its ferocity, vulnerability of the victim and a degree of planning as aggravating. However, insufficient weight was given to the offenders’ youth, impetuosity and susceptibility to peer pressure. A two-thirds uplift from the 12-year minimum-term starting point should be reserved for cases such as a clearly pre-planned gang attack on an unarmed person or murder in an armed robbery. Williams’s minimum term was reduced to 18 years, Nkunku-Linongi’s to 16 years, and Glasgow’s to 15 years.

4. The court did not determine the wider question whether general deterrence may justify increasing a child’s sentence. It did not affect the result and should await a case in which it arises directly, with an opportunity for submissions by the Attorney-General.

5. Edusei’s sentence appeal was dismissed. The judge was entitled to place the manslaughter in Category A of the Manslaughter Guideline. The combination of two culpability-B factors and the extreme group attack justified that conclusion. The 11-year detention sentence appropriately reflected youth, falling between one-half and two-thirds of the 18-year adult equivalent.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) In [2020] EWCA Crim 193, dismissed Williams’s renewed application for permission to appeal conviction; reduced the minimum terms imposed on Williams, Nkunku-Linongi and Glasgow; and dismissed Edusei’s sentence appeal.

• Central Criminal Court Glasgow and Nkunku-Linongi were convicted of murder on 31 October 2018. Edusei was convicted of manslaughter. Williams was convicted of murder after a retrial on 21 January 2019. All were sentenced on 15 February 2019.