R v Robert Harrison

In sentencing for causing death by dangerous driving, the guideline starting point may be increased for aggravating features and then reduced for mitigation. Commercial driving in a large vehicle is an express aggravating factor. Long-term psychological injury to a victim’s family member and excessive speed may also aggravate, even where speed did not itself cause the death. A sentence will not be disturbed where it is neither excessive nor wrong in principle. An interim driving disqualification is subject to a six-month statutory maximum, so credit cannot exceed that period. The court must not make an appeal sentence more severe. An extended driving test is mandatory before a disqualified offender may drive again, and the Court of Appeal may add that requirement where doing so does not materially increase the sentence.

The applicant was convicted at the Crown Court at Chelmsford of causing death by dangerous driving and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. He was disqualified from driving for eight and a half years, with credit given for seven months and seven days spent subject to an interim disqualification order.

After a single judge refused leave, the applicant renewed his application for permission to appeal sentence. He argued that the sentence was excessive, that excessive weight had been given to his status as a professional driver, and that insufficient weight had been given to mitigation. The Court also considered whether the disqualification calculation complied with the statutory maximum for interim disqualification and whether an extended driving test had to be imposed.

The renewed application for permission to appeal sentence was refused. The sentence was amended only to require successful completion of an Extended Driving Test before the applicant could drive again.

1. Custodial sentence. The sentencing judge adopted the correct Sentencing Guideline for Causing Death by Dangerous Driving. The applicant’s poor sleep supported culpability category B, with a six-year starting point and a range of four to nine years. The judge was entitled to increase the sentence for the aggravating factors identified, including driving a large commercial vehicle for professional purposes, the long-term psychological injury suffered by the deceased’s stepdaughter, and excessive speed towards the bend, although that speed was not itself causative of the death. She also gave proper weight to mitigation, including good character, an unblemished driving record, remorse, frankness with the police and the admission that his driving caused the death. The sentence of seven years was neither arguably excessive nor wrong in principle.
2. Interim disqualification credit. The disqualification order had been made under section 35A of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. The sentencing judge had erred by allowing credit of seven months and seven days. Section 26(4) of that Act imposed a six-month statutory maximum for an interim disqualification, and credit for a longer period was impermissible. The Court applied the principle stated in R v Marshall [2023] Crim 964. It nevertheless declined to interfere with the length of the disqualification because doing so would have made the sentence more severe, contrary to section 11(3) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968. The applicant had not driven after the interim order, making further intervention unfair.
3. Extended Driving Test. The requirement to complete an Extended Driving Test after disqualification was obligatory under section 36(1) and (2) of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. The Court directed that the requirement be added because it did not significantly increase the severity of the sentence.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): On 20 February 2024, after leave had been refused by a single judge, the renewed application for permission to appeal sentence was refused. The disqualification order was amended to require an Extended Driving Test: [2024] EWCA Crim 359.
• Crown Court at Chelmsford: The applicant was convicted on 14 June 2023 and sentenced on 20 July 2023 to seven years’ imprisonment, with an eight-and-a-half-year driving disqualification.