R v Rhaheem Hamed

Knife wounds may properly be categorised as grave harm for sentencing where their depth causes damage to internal organs and requires admission to a major trauma ward. That conclusion may stand despite no major surgery, discharge after a short hospital stay, and no evidence of lasting effects.

For an offender just under 17 at the time of a serious violent offence, a one-third reduction from the otherwise appropriate adult sentence may properly reflect age when applied in accordance with the relevant sentencing guideline. A stern sentence is not excessive where the attack was gratuitous, the offender was armed and prepared to use a large knife, and the injuries could readily have been fatal.

The appellant was convicted after trial of wounding with intent, contrary to section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, and possession of a knife. He was shortly under 17 when, during a joint street attack, he repeatedly stabbed the complainant with a large kitchen knife.

The complainant sustained a punctured lung, a lacerated spleen and other wounds. He received blood, antibiotics and a chest drain, and remained in hospital for four days.

On 12 April 2024, HHJ Stuart Driver KC in the Crown Court at Liverpool imposed a total of six years’ detention in a young offender institution. The appellant appealed against sentence, contending that the harm should have been placed in category 3 rather than category 2 and that insufficient allowance had been made for his age and delay before trial.

1. Appeal dismissed. The total sentence of six years’ detention in a young offender institution was not excessive.
2. The sentencing judge was entitled to assess the wounding as category 2 harm. The injuries were grave: forcible knife wounds had punctured a lung and lacerated the spleen, as well as causing further wounds. The complainant required treatment in a major trauma ward and remained in hospital for four days. The absence of major surgery, evidence of long-term effects, or a longer admission did not require category 3 harm.
3. The judge had properly given full weight to the appellant’s age. The appellant was only shortly under 17 at the time of the offence, and the judge expressly reduced the otherwise applicable adult sentence by one-third in accordance with the relevant guideline. That allowance could not be criticised as inappropriate.
4. The delay before trial was relevant but did not materially reduce the sentence, particularly as it was largely attributable to the appellant. The court also noted the absence, until the appeal, of a full acceptance of responsibility.
5. The attack was a very serious example of its kind. It was a gratuitous joint attack in public daylight. The appellant had taken a large knife to a place where young people would be present and used it repeatedly with force. The injuries might readily have been fatal. Although the sentence was stern, it fell within the proper sentencing range.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): By [2024] EWCA Crim 1348, the court dismissed the appeal against sentence.
• Crown Court at Liverpool: Following conviction at trial, HHJ Stuart Driver KC imposed a total of six years’ detention in a young offender institution on 12 April 2024.