R v Jamie George

Where an offender was under 18 when offences were committed but is sentenced after turning 18, the starting point is the sentence likely to have been imposed when the offences were committed. That is a powerful factor, and a more severe sentence in effect requires good reason. The maximum available in the Youth Court is not the proper benchmark where the case would have been committed to the Crown Court. For offenders aged 15 to 17, the sentencing guideline indicates a sentence between one-half and two-thirds of the adult term. Findings of manipulation and exploitation of vulnerability may aggravate offending even without particular vulnerability or specific targeting. An appellate court will not interfere where the sentence is not wrong in principle or manifestly excessive.

The appellant was aged 16 when he raped and digitally penetrated a 16-year-old complainant and intentionally strangled her. He was convicted in the Leicester and Rutland Youth Court and committed to the Crown Court at Leicester for sentence. By the time of trial and sentence he was 18. The Crown Court imposed 45 months' detention in a young offender institution, with concurrent terms of 24 and 12 months for the other offences.

The appeal challenged the adult starting point, the reduction required for youth, the treatment of manipulation and vulnerability as aggravating features, and the judge's increase from an initially indicated sentence of 40 months. The central issue was whether the sentence was wrong in principle or manifestly excessive, having regard to the sentence likely at the time of offending.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

1. Sentence at the date of offending. The approach explained in R v Ghafoor [2002] EWCA Crim 1857 was applied. The starting point was the sentence the appellant would probably have received when aged 16. That was a powerful factor, and good reason was required before imposing a sentence more severe in effect. Since the seriousness of the offences would have justified committal to the Crown Court, the Youth Court's maximum sentence was not the relevant benchmark.
2. Age reduction. Paragraph 6.46 of the Sentencing Children and Young People Guideline indicated a sentence in the range of one-half to two-thirds of the adult sentence for offenders aged 15 to 17. The sentencing judge had misunderstood this as an indicative reduction of one-half to two-thirds. A 50 per cent reduction was nevertheless materially generous, particularly because the appellant was nearly 16 years and 8 months old when he offended.
3. Aggravating features and adult sentence. The rape was category 3B, with harm not far short of category 2. Its starting point was five years, within a range of four to seven years. The location, persistence, determination, the two additional offences, and findings that the appellant was manipulative and exploited the complainant's vulnerability justified a substantial upward adjustment. The absence of a finding of particular vulnerability or specific targeting did not prevent those matters aggravating the offending.
4. Manifest excessiveness. Although the court preferred a different method of calculating sentence, an adult term of seven years before mitigation, reduced for personal mitigation and then by approximately 40 per cent for age, produced a possible sentence of about 43 to 45 months. The 45-month term was therefore neither wrong in principle nor manifestly excessive and reflected the sentence appropriate, and likely to have been imposed, when the appellant was 16.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): on 19 May 2026, dismissed the appeal against the 45-month sentence: [2026] EWCA Crim 688.
• Crown Court at Leicester: on 19 November 2025, imposed 45 months' detention in a young offender institution after committal under sections 16 and 20 of the Sentencing Act 2020.
• Leicester and Rutland Youth Court: convicted the appellant and committed him to the Crown Court for sentence. The proceedings continued despite his turning 18 pursuant to section 29 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963.