R v ZCX

Where offending comprises a campaign of rape, the sentencing court must identify a total sentence reflecting all the offending behaviour. The categorisation and starting point for individual counts do not exhaust that task. Closely connected non-sexual offences may be treated as aggravating features of the principal sexual offending. A guideline recognising that campaigns of rape may justify sentences of 20 years and above supports a high aggregate sentence. The appellate question remains whether the resulting sentence is manifestly excessive.

The applicant renewed his application for leave to appeal against sentence following convictions at the Crown Court at Bolton for multiple rapes of a child under 13, assault by penetration, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and perverting the course of public justice. He received a concurrent extended determinate sentence with a custodial term of 25 years. The proposed grounds challenged the starting points for the non-sexual offences, the categorisation of harm, and the application of totality. The central issue was whether the overall sentence was manifestly excessive.

The renewed application for leave to appeal was refused.

1. The proposed challenges to the sentences for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice had no merit. In the circumstances, those offences were best regarded as aggravating factors in relation to the 13 rapes committed against the complainant.
2. The sentencing judge was entitled to place the harm in the highest category. The victim personal statement demonstrated severe psychological harm to a young girl facing a lifetime of living with that harm. That level of harm was conceded on the applicant’s behalf.
3. In a case of this nature, the decisive task is to identify a total sentence reflecting all the offending behaviour. The categorisation of individual counts does not determine the totality exercise.
4. The relevant sentencing guideline recognises that offending of sufficient severity, including a campaign of rape, may justify sentences of 20 years and above. The 25-year custodial term represented slightly less than two years for each rape of which the applicant was convicted.
5. Considering the offending in the round, the sentence was entirely justified and it was not arguable that it was manifestly excessive. The extended sentence was not challenged.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): The renewed application for leave to appeal against sentence was refused: [2025] EWCA Crim 1511.
• Crown Court at Bolton: The applicant was convicted by a jury on 21 August 2024 and sentenced on 1 November 2024 to a concurrent extended determinate sentence with a custodial term of 25 years.