R v David Joseph Davies

For a persistent and deliberate breach of a restraining order, a sentencing judge may place the offence at the top of the applicable guideline range where the offender has an extensive record of breaching court orders and has failed to respond to repeated custodial sentences. The precise degree of distress caused need not be determined where the sentence is justified by very serious culpability, the nature of the breach, and the offender’s record.

The appellant pleaded guilty before Swansea Magistrates’ Court to breaching a restraining order and was committed to Swansea Crown Court for sentence. He entered his mother’s home in breach of the order, refused repeated requests to leave, remained for about 45 minutes, and later contacted her again.

The Crown Court imposed 16 months’ imprisonment. It treated the offence as category 2A under the applicable guideline, placed it at the top of the range because of the appellant’s extensive and repeated breaches of court orders, and allowed one-third credit for the guilty plea.

The appellant appealed on the ground that the sentence was manifestly excessive, contending that the judge had wrongly inferred significant distress and given excessive weight to his record.

1. Appeal dismissed. The 16-month sentence was not manifestly excessive.

2. The categorisation of the offence as category 2A under the applicable sentencing guideline was not disputed. It was open to the sentencing judge to conclude that the appellant’s uninvited entry into his mother’s home, and his refusal to leave for 45 minutes, caused more than little harm.

3. The Court held that the sentencing judge had not depended on a finding about the precise degree of distress caused. Any exact consequences remained speculative. The decisive features were the deliberate breach, the appellant’s presence in the home despite repeated requests to leave, and his very serious culpability.

4. The appellant’s record was replete with offending while on bail, failures to surrender, and repeated breaches of court orders which had already attracted imprisonment. This was the fourth breach of the same restraining order within a short period. His previous sentences had not deterred him.

5. In those circumstances, the previous record and failure to respond to earlier sentences justified an uplift from the 12-month starting point to the top of the guideline range before credit for the guilty plea. The Court therefore upheld the sentence.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Appeal against sentence dismissed in [2024] EWCA Crim 846.
• Crown Court at Swansea: On 27 February 2024, imposed 16 months’ imprisonment following a guilty plea to breach of a restraining order.
• Swansea Magistrates’ Court: On 6 February 2024, committed the appellant to the Crown Court for sentence after his guilty plea.