R v Dale Crook

For a killing in domestic circumstances, the sentencing court must make an upward adjustment from the 15-year starting point prescribed by the schedule to the Sentencing Act 2020, before making further adjustments for aggravating and mitigating features.

On an Attorney General reference, a sentence may be lenient without being unduly lenient. A sentencing judge may properly give weight to mitigation personal to the offender. Where the resulting adjustment would be small, the Court of Appeal may refuse to interfere.

The Attorney General referred the respondent's sentence for murder, imposed at Stafford Crown Court on 29 November 2024, as unduly lenient under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

The respondent pleaded guilty at the first opportunity after killing his wife by stabbing her. The sentencing judge imposed life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years, reduced for the guilty plea and time spent on remand to 10 years, 9 months and 3 days.

The judge identified aggravating features including the use of a knife, the victim's vulnerability, the killing in her home and post-offence deceit. Mitigation included the absence of previous convictions, lack of premeditation, mental disorder which slightly reduced culpability, and the guilty plea. The central issue was whether the minimum term was unduly lenient.

1. Reference refused. The Court granted leave because the sentence was lenient, but held that it was not unduly lenient. The sentence therefore remained unchanged.

2. The sentencing judge had identified the correct aggravating and mitigating features. The domestic circumstances of the killing required a greater upward adjustment than the judge had made from the 15-year starting point.

3. That error did not justify intervention. The judge was entitled to take account of mitigation personal to the respondent, including his lack of previous convictions, the absence of premeditation and the limited reduction in culpability arising from mental disorder. Those matters meant that any further adjustment would have been relatively small.

4. The Court emphasised that every killing in domestic circumstances merits an upward adjustment from the 15-year starting point in the schedule to the Sentencing Act 2020. That adjustment must be made before further adjustments for aggravating and mitigating features.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) — On the Attorney General's reference, the court refused to alter the sentence: [2025] EWCA Crim 156.
• Crown Court at Stafford — On 29 November 2024, imposed life imprisonment for murder with a minimum term of 14 years before reductions for the guilty plea and time served.