R v Peter Lupai

Where no offence-specific sentencing guideline applies, the court should have regard to the statutory maximum, relevant appellate sentencing authorities and guidelines for analogous offences. An analogous guideline may provide a starting point, but the sentence must then be adjusted for the actual offence and harm caused.

The fact that dangerous driving caused serious injury rather than death does not invariably require a downward adjustment. The extent and lasting effect of the injuries determine the appropriate adjustment within the statutory maximum.

The appellant pleaded guilty to two Class A drug-supply offences, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and possession of cannabis. At Reading Crown Court he received concurrent sentences of three years and nine months for the drug offences and a consecutive two-year sentence for dangerous driving.

While overtaking on the wrong side of the road towards a blind bend, he collided head-on with another vehicle. The victim suffered spinal, hand and rib fractures and required hospital treatment and substantial care.

The appeal challenged only the sentence for causing serious injury by dangerous driving. The central issue was whether the judge had made a sufficient adjustment from the analogous guideline for causing death by dangerous driving.

1. The appeal was allowed. The sentence for causing serious injury by dangerous driving was reduced from two years’ to 16 months’ imprisonment. The consecutive structure of the sentences and the sentences for drug offending remained unchanged.

2. There was no offence-specific guideline. Under the General Guideline: Overarching Principles, the sentencing court had properly considered the statutory maximum, relevant appellate sentencing judgments and the analogous guideline for causing death by dangerous driving. The driving fell within category 3 of that guideline because it created a significant danger by overtaking on the wrong side of the road towards a blind bend.

3. The three-year starting point for the analogous death-by-dangerous-driving offence nevertheless required adjustment because this offence caused serious injury rather than death. That adjustment is not mechanically downward in every case. It depends on the harm actually caused; life-changing injuries may properly move a sentence towards the five-year maximum for causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

4. The victim’s injuries were neither at the most serious nor the least serious end of the range. A pre-plea sentence of two years, rather than three, was appropriate. Applying full credit for the guilty plea produced a sentence of 16 months.

5. Applying R v Needham [2016] EWCA Crim 455 and sections 35A and 35B of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, the court recalculated the extended driving disqualification as 78½ months. The remaining orders were unaffected.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Allowed the sentence appeal and reduced the consecutive sentence for causing serious injury by dangerous driving to 16 months’ imprisonment.
• Crown Court at Reading: On 16 June 2022 imposed concurrent sentences of three years and nine months’ imprisonment for the drug offences and a consecutive two-year sentence for causing serious injury by dangerous driving.