R v Raqab Mohammed

When sentencing a young adult, reaching 18 is not a sentencing cliff edge. The offender’s youth and degree of maturity may continue to inform the sentence.

In drug-supply sentencing, a young, immature and vulnerable offender who acted under pressure may fall on the cusp between a significant and a lesser role. The sentencing court must reflect those features when selecting a starting point within the applicable guideline range.

The appellant pleaded guilty in the Crown Court at Sheffield to possessing Class A and Class B controlled drugs with intent to supply. He had held and cut drugs after becoming indebted to, threatened and stabbed by his dealer.

The Recorder treated him as having a significant role in category 3 harm and imposed three years’ imprisonment on the Class A count, with a concurrent six-month sentence on the Class B count. He appealed against sentence, principally contending that his accepted basis of plea, vulnerability, youth and immaturity required categorisation as a lesser-role offender or a lower starting point.

1. Appeal allowed in part. The Court quashed the three-year sentence on the Class A count and substituted two years and three months’ imprisonment. The concurrent six-month sentence on the Class B count was not disturbed.

2. The appellant’s circumstances placed him on the cusp between a significant role and a lesser role under the Sentencing Council’s definitive drug guideline. Although he expected financial or other advantage, he was young, immature and vulnerable, and had acted under pressure, threats and intimidation after serious violence by his dealer.

3. The overlap between the guideline ranges reflected the breadth of circumstances encountered in practice. Those personal circumstances required a lower post-trial starting point than the four years selected by the Recorder.

4. Following Attorney-General’s Reference (Clarke) [2018] EWCA Crim 185, adulthood at 18 does not mean that maturity is complete. Youth and maturity remain relevant sentencing factors for offenders over 18.

5. The appropriate post-trial starting point on count 1 was three years’ custody. Applying 25 per cent credit for the guilty plea produced a sentence of two years and three months. The total sentence was therefore reduced to that term.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Allowed the sentence appeal in part and substituted two years and three months’ imprisonment for the three-year sentence on count 1.

• Crown Court at Sheffield: On 17 April 2023, imposed three years’ imprisonment for possession of a Class A controlled drug with intent to supply and a concurrent six-month sentence for possession of a Class B controlled drug with intent to supply.