Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) judgments, 2024

On an application under section 23 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968, the question is whether the proposed additional material, considered with the evidence as a…

For an offence under Terrorism Act 2000, section 12(1A), the prosecution must prove that the organisation was proscribed, that the defendant expressed a…

Perverting the course of public justice by seeking to induce a complainant in a serious sexual-offence case to change their account is an offence for which…

When consecutive sentences are permissible for separate serious offences, the court must still assess the aggregate sentence under the Sentencing Council…

Where a sentencing guideline gives an indicative drug quantity for a starting point, the court must adjust that starting point to reflect a materially lower…

Sentencing a pregnant defendant or mother requires a proportionate balance between custody and interference with family life, including the impact on dependent…

Where intentional strangulation forms a grave and distinct part of a domestic assault, a judge may impose a consecutive sentence for it in addition to a…

A sentencing judge may exceed the range in sentencing guidelines where the offender is particularly persistent, and may do so substantially where the facts…

Where an offender did not plead guilty at the first opportunity, a full one-third reduction is not available. However, where fitness to plead is properly…

A defendant relying on section 45(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 must adduce evidence capable of supporting every element of that defence. The defence is…

In sexual assault sentencing, a victim’s particular vulnerability may support a higher harm assessment where it arises from personal circumstances, such as…

A sentencing court must sentence on the accepted basis of plea, identify the applicable offence category and role under the relevant guideline, and give…

For Category 3 street dealing under the Definitive Sentencing Guidelines, a significant role requires evidence of an operational or management function, or…

When sentencing an adult for offences committed as a child, the court must have regard to the sentencing approach applicable to children and young persons and…

When sentencing for multiple offences, the court may adopt a starting point that reflects the offender’s total criminality rather than the lead count alone. A…

A conviction founded on a guilty plea may still be challenged as unsafe. However, where the defendant deliberately and unambiguously admits facts constituting…

In sentencing for false imprisonment, associated violence, threats and theft will ordinarily be treated as aggravating features of the lead offence and…

On activation of a suspended sentence, the statutory victim surcharge is calculated by reference to the imprisonment imposed for the new offences, not…

Age-based starting points for murder under Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Code provide guidance and must be applied flexibly, not mechanically. For children…

Under Sentencing Act 2020, section 327(3), the court must state in open court the number of days for which a prisoner was kept in custody awaiting extradition.…

On a reference concerning an allegedly unduly lenient sentence, the Court of Appeal must assess the sentence in the round. A sentence is unduly lenient only if…

In sentencing for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, the seriousness of the proceedings obstructed may inform the applicable guideline category. It…

When sentencing a child or young person for murder, statutory starting points must be applied individually, with attention to age and maturity, ability to…

In a sexual-offence trial, a direction on inconsistencies may properly warn jurors against assumptions founded on myths and stereotypes, while leaving them to…

Serious conspiracies to facilitate breaches of immigration law ordinarily require deterrent custodial sentences. Sentencing must reflect the cumulative…

On a reference against an unduly lenient sentence, the Court of Appeal must assess whether the total sentence fell outside the range reasonably open to the…

Under Criminal Appeal Act 1968 section 23, the Court of Appeal must decide whether receiving fresh evidence is necessary or expedient in the interests of…

Sentencing must remain proportionate to the applicable offence guideline, even where serious aggravating features are present. A sentence substantially…

A sentencing judge may determine the factual basis of sentence from the trial evidence where a jury verdict leaves the extent of a fraud unresolved. A finding…

An unsolicited judicial indication of sentence, given otherwise than through the appropriate procedure, may vitiate a guilty plea where it was decisive in…

In sentencing appeals for serious conspiracies to facilitate breaches of UK immigration law, the court must assess whether the offending requires deterrence…

For the purposes of section 244ZA of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the availability of life imprisonment is assessed by reference to the offence as at the…

Applications for fresh evidence and investigations by the Criminal Cases Review Commission under the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 require more than an assertion…

A conviction is not rendered unsafe merely because an unrepresented defendant declines properly available assistance or voluntarily absents himself from trial.…

Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 imposes three cumulative filters on evidence of a complainant’s previous sexual behaviour. The…

A very lengthy delay in seeking leave to appeal requires a proper basis for extending time. Mental health difficulties will not, without more, establish that a…

In sentencing for perverting the course of justice, conduct sustained over several months and connected with a very serious underlying offence may justify the…

When a sentencing guideline applies to an offender’s mental disorder, the court must assess the disorder individually and in relation to the issues in the…

A renewed application for permission to appeal a minimum term will fail where the sentencing judge adopted an appropriate starting point and adequately allowed…

In sentencing for causing death by careless driving, the court must place the offence in the appropriate guideline category before selecting the sentence.…

In gross negligence manslaughter, a victim’s voluntary decision to undertake a dangerous activity does not break the chain of causation where the victim and…

Where no offence-specific sentencing guideline exists, seriousness is assessed by culpability and harm under section 63 of the Sentencing Act 2020.…

In a sexual assault trial, the prosecution must prove every statutory element that is genuinely in issue. It need not invite the jury to examine an element…

For breach of sexual-offence notification requirements, a sentencing court may treat deliberate non-notification and the resulting risk that the police do not…

Where a defendant has neither given evidence nor called evidence and has put the prosecution to proof, section 34 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act…

Sentencing for linked sexual offences must reflect totality. A court may treat one offence as the lead count, impose a concurrent sentence for another, and…

Under the offence-specific sentencing guideline, abuse of a position of responsibility may by itself place offending in the high-culpability category. Harm may…

A renewed application for leave to appeal against conviction will be refused where, having considered the relevant material afresh, the court concludes that…

Sentencing for false imprisonment or kidnapping is highly fact-specific. Relevant considerations include the detention’s length and circumstances, restraint…

Bad character evidence must involve reprehensible conduct and be relevant to an important matter in issue. Evidence that an accused has picked up intoxicated…

On an external request from an EU member state for a restraint order, the Crown Court must scrutinise the request and determine whether the conditions in…

In sentencing multiple sexual offences, the appellate court must assess the sentence in totality. It should not examine each concurrent sentence in isolation.…

Where an offender accelerates a vehicle knowing that a pedestrian is beneath it, an intention to cause grievous bodily harm may be self-evident. In any event…

In a sentence appeal, inadequate sentencing remarks do not of themselves establish that a sentence is wrong in principle or manifestly excessive. The appellate…

Direct participation in an attack is not required for liability based on assistance or encouragement. A jury may infer assistance or encouragement from…

For aggravated stalking under section 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the prosecution must adduce evidence from which a properly directed jury…

For a defendant aged 15 or 16 convicted of a murder of particularly high seriousness, the statutory starting point in Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020…

Hearsay evidence that is not demonstrably reliable may nevertheless be admitted where its reliability can be safely tested and assessed by the jury. The court…

Under the pre-amendment dangerous-offender provisions, a previous specified offence did not by itself establish dangerousness. The court had to consider the…

The composition of a Court-Martial Board is a judicial decision. Under rule 33 of the Armed Forces Court-Martial Rules 2009, the judge may select an…

Where dismissal is itself a substantial punishment, a Service Community Order may properly be directed solely to rehabilitation. Its duration must be assessed…

When an adult is sentenced for offences committed as a child, the court must apply the Children guideline and reconstruct the sentence likely to have been…

In a sentence appeal concerning historic sexual offending, the court may consider the sentence that would probably have been imposed had related offending…

In sentencing sexual offences, attempting to make a complainant consume alcohol may fall within the sentencing guideline’s treatment of alcohol used to…

An appellate court will not re-try a defendant’s factual case or treat disagreement with a jury as showing an unsafe conviction. Intervention requires an…

An agreed basis of plea, signed by both parties and accepted by the sentencing judge, fixes the facts on which an Attorney General’s reference must be…

On a reference alleging undue leniency, the Court of Appeal will not interfere merely because other judges might have imposed a higher sentence. Where the…

A conviction following a guilty plea can be challenged only in limited circumstances: where the plea was vitiated by erroneous legal advice, there was an abuse…

Where a hearsay gateway is established because the maker is dead, the judge must assess whether the evidence can potentially be held safely reliable. The…

An offender sentenced as an adult for historic offending committed under the age of 18 must be sentenced by reference to the distinct principles applicable to…

A criminal appeal is not a rerun of evidence or issues canvassed at trial. Complaints about witness credibility, inconsistencies, or matters that could have…

For the high-culpability A category of the offence-specific burglary guideline, a significant degree of planning or organisation requires materially more…

Evidence of voyeurism committed during the same outing as alleged sexual offending may be treated as part of the facts of the alleged offence and may be…

In sentencing for stalking involving fear of violence, harm must be assessed by weighing all the factors of the case. Category 1 is available where the…

When sentencing an offender for crime committed as a child, the court must apply the Sentencing Council’s guideline for children and young persons even if the…

For an application to quash an acquittal under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, evidence is compelling when it is reliable, substantial and highly probative in…

A defendant’s voluntary decision to dispense with legal representation does not of itself render a criminal trial unfair. The trial judge must nevertheless…

A renewed application for leave to appeal against sentence requires a good reason for substantial delay and proposed grounds with a real prospect of success.…

A vehicle may be an other weapon for the enhanced sentencing provisions in Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020 and the attempted murder guideline. The issue…

For murder sentencing, Schedule 21 starting points must not be applied mechanically as fixed categories. The court must assess the individual circumstances and…

Consecutive sentences may be proper for distinct offences, but the principle of totality requires the court to adjust the aggregate sentence so that it…

When sentencing an attempted offence that falls between guideline categories, the court must assess the relevant category range, allow for how far the…

In sentencing an organised conspiracy to steal from shops, a judge may find high culpability where the offending involves substantial planning, several…

For an offence of breaching a non-molestation order made without notice, the prosecution must prove that the defendant was aware of the order’s existence when…

Where an offender’s acquired brain injury has materially affected behaviour and follows a previously blameless life, it may require a significant reduction…

A defendant may be excluded from parts of a criminal trial where disruptive conduct threatens witnesses or jurors, even if the conduct may have a medical…

Repeated breaches of cattle-identification requirements which frustrate the control of bovine tuberculosis are serious regulatory offences. They may pass the…

On a reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, a sentence is unduly lenient only where it falls outside the range reasonably open to the…

Under Criminal Justice Act 2003, whether a witness is unfit to give evidence because of a mental condition is a matter for the trial judge's holistic…

Where an indictment for an offence under section 62 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 does not identify the intended sexual offence, the omission does not itself…

For the purposes of section 41(5) of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, an unsolicited and potentially damaging answer given by a prosecution…

A deprivation order may be made only where the statutory conditions are satisfied, and the court must consider the property’s value and the likely financial…

In sentencing a young offender who was under 18 when the offence was committed, the court should have regard to the sentence that could have been imposed had…

A whole life order is required where an adult murderer’s offending is so exceptionally serious that a minimum term would not provide just punishment. The…

A criminal appellate court may reopen its determination to correct a sentencing error. Where the offender’s age means that the court lacked power to impose the…

For a no-case submission, the judge assesses the prosecution evidence at its highest and asks whether a properly directed reasonable jury could infer guilt.…

In sentencing serious public disorder, the court must assess an offender’s conduct in its whole context. Individual acts remain relevant, but participation in…

For an attempted theft, sentence must be based on the loss intended in the proved incident, where actual loss was prevented. Losses from earlier offences and…

Under section 100(1)(b) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, bad-character evidence about a non-defendant is admissible only where it has substantial probative…

For conduct predating section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, a trafficking-based challenge proceeds through abuse of process. The question is whether, in…

A sentence for numerous serious offences must reflect the whole course of conduct while remaining just and proportionate under the totality principle. An…

At sentencing, a judge must use the Sentencing Council guideline current on the date of sentence and consult its digital version. Where a historical offence…

When a defendant deliberately and voluntarily absents himself from trial, the court may proceed in his absence if, applying R v Jones [2002] UKHL 5, a fair…

In sentencing for historic sexual offending, the court may assess dangerousness from all material before it. Risk-assessment tools are relevant but do not…

When sentencing historic sexual offending by reference to modern guidelines, the court must make a measured reference to those guidelines and the lower maxima…

Shortcomings in the preparation of a criminal defence do not justify appellate intervention without a reasonably arguable causal link to the conviction. A fair…

In an Attorney General’s reference for undue leniency, the sentence must reflect the totality of persistent and serious offending. Where several features of…

On an Attorney General’s reference alleging undue leniency, an appellate court should not interfere with an experienced trial judge’s categorisation under a…

After guilty pleas are entered during a trial, evidence previously deployed on the pleaded counts may remain admissible on the counts left for decision. Under…

Automatically recorded computer data does not become hearsay merely because a person selects and extracts a relevant subset, sets search parameters or presents…

In an Attorney General’s reference against an unduly lenient sentence, the Court of Appeal must assess whether the sentence fell outside the range that a…

In proceedings for failing to surrender to bail, the accused bears the burden of proving a reasonable cause. A judge’s prior involvement as trial judge…

An unchallenged or accepted basis of plea does not bind the sentencing judge. The court must seek to sentence on a true factual basis and may direct a Newton…

An appeal based on alleged incompetence by trial representatives succeeds only if no reasonably competent counsel could have taken the course adopted on…

A Watson direction is not subject to a free-standing requirement of exceptional circumstances. It may be given, rarely, after a majority direction and further…

For the partial defence of loss of control under section 54(1) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, the three statutory components must be considered…

Where an offender has admitted the material facts at the earliest opportunity and the prosecution accepts that basis, the offender is entitled to the…

A conviction is not unsafe merely because a disclosure request was refused where the material available at trial sufficiently enabled the defence case to be…

When sentencing historic sexual offences committed by a young offender, the court must apply the framework applicable to the offending, reflect age and…

In a serious and prolonged fraud, a sentencing judge may adopt a global starting point modestly above the guideline starting point where the victims’ harm is…

Verdicts on separate counts are not logically inconsistent merely because they differ. The question is whether no reasonable jury, properly applying the law…

A stay for abuse of process is exceptional. Extensive and emotive publicity does not itself establish that an accused cannot receive a fair trial. The court…

The partial defence of loss of control must be considered sequentially under section 54 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. If there is insufficient evidence…

For robbery, a threat of force is sufficient; a weapon is not required. Words directing a person to get out of a vehicle may amount to a threat of violence…

In assessing culpability under a sentencing guideline, whether driving constituted an obviously highly dangerous manoeuvre is not determined by a wholly…

Knife wounds may properly be categorised as grave harm for sentencing where their depth causes damage to internal organs and requires admission to a major…

On a sentence appeal, the Court of Appeal will not intervene merely because a sentence is severe or differs from sentences imposed on co-defendants. A sentence…

When resentencing for multiple violent offences, a court may impose consecutive terms for offences against different victims. It must nevertheless apply…

The totality principle permits consecutive sentences for offences arising from a common motivation where the offences are distinct in time and place. The…

For ill-treatment of a person in care under Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, ill-treatment is an ordinary expression which requires no judicial gloss. The…

In sentencing appeals, the appellate court will not resolve medical or factual questions that should have been determined below. A sentencing judge may place…

For causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drug-impaired driving of a heavy goods vehicle may fall within, or at the cusp of, culpability Category A…

When an offender pleads guilty after the first opportunity, the sentencing judge has discretion as to the reduction. The maximum reduction is not automatic…

For an offence of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity where the intended activity does not occur, the sentencing court should…

Expert evidence is not an essential precondition to a finding of serious psychological harm for sentencing. A judge may rely on the victim’s evidence…

Where an offender provides confidential information to the authorities, an inability to assess its immediate positive value does not prevent an appropriate…

In an unduly lenient sentence reference, the application for permission and the reference are distinct. The permission application must concisely identify each…

In sentencing for Class A drug supply, culpability may fall between lesser and significant roles where an offender performs an operational function but acts…

Where a defendant could not reasonably have indicated a guilty plea to a conspiracy before being charged with any form of that conspiracy, a substantial…

For liability arising from violence between opposing groups, the prosecution must prove a reciprocal agreement to stab and be stabbed, whether made in advance…

An error in directions that rendered a co-accused’s conviction unsafe does not automatically render another conviction unsafe. The appellate court must assess…

On a sentence appeal, the appellate court may uphold an increase from the sentencing starting point where the judge has carefully assessed the aggravating and…

A jury’s request for information outside the evidence does not, without more, show that jurors have speculated, conducted improper research, or will disobey…

A finding of dangerousness does not make imprisonment for public protection automatic. The sentencing court must make a fact-specific assessment of the…

Leave to appeal against sentence is available only where the sentence is arguably manifestly excessive or the sentencing judge has arguably erred in principle.…

Where an offender is charged with offering to supply a controlled drug but the substance is fake, sentencing starts with the applicable Sentencing Council…

Notification requirements under Sexual Offences Act 2003 arise by operation of statute. A sentencing court does not impose them by discretion or order; it…

A confiscation order should be quashed where it was made on a materially false factual premise about the available amount and its compensatory purpose has…

For offences under the Terrorism Act 2000, culpability depends on the significance of withheld information, while harm depends on the nature of the terrorist…

Unjustifiable delay may be taken into account in sentencing where it has imposed additional strain on a defendant, but a sentencing court is not obliged to…

When an offender is sentenced for historical offences committed under 18, the court must apply the child sentencing approach. Passage of time and subsequent…

When assessing harm for sentencing under section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, a sentencing judge may rely on the victim’s evidence of…

Where an offender takes a knife to the scene of a murder intending that it should be available for defensive use as a weapon, and uses it to commit the murder…

Time spent on remand for offences dealt with by committal for sentence counts against a sentence for indictment offences where the offences are related within…

A sentencing court may impose immediate custody despite substantial mental-health mitigation and a recommended mental-health treatment requirement where the…

In a sexual-offence trial, evidence that a complainant was raped or subjected to domestic abuse by another person is inadmissible under section 41 of the Youth…

In sentencing appeals for large-scale drug conspiracies, a court may move outside the guideline bracket for a lesser role where the scale and commercial…

Abuse of trust under the sentencing guidelines is a fact-specific culpability assessment. A familial relationship, including that of step-parent and stepchild…

For credit under section 325 of the Sentencing Act 2020, the absence of installed electronic monitoring equipment does not alone defeat a qualifying-curfew…

Sentencing a child or young person requires an individualised assessment of age, maturity and personal circumstances. Adult sentencing ranges may assist, but…

An application for leave to appeal against an order appointing an Enforcement Receiver cannot be used to reopen challenges to an underlying confiscation order…

A restraining order must be necessary to protect the person concerned, and each of its terms and duration must be proportionate to that protective purpose. A…

A community order under section 202(1) of the Sentencing Act 2020 is available only where the offender is aged 18 or over when convicted. Turning 18 before…

When sentencing attempted rape, the victim’s incapacitation through drink may be treated as an aggravating factor. The sentence must nevertheless reflect that…

Sentence for kidnapping requires a close, fact-specific appraisal rather than a fixed guideline. Relevant considerations include the detention’s duration and…

Where a guilty plea is delayed by circumstances outside the defendant’s control, a previous indication that more than the minimum discount may be appropriate…

Sentencing guidelines guide the exercise of discretion but do not prevent a court from imposing a sentence outside their range where the offence’s overall…

When sentencing for a new offence, a court may take into account a custodial sentence already served for similar offences. That exercise is distinct from…

Legitimate but undeclared trading receipts may constitute criminal property under section 340(3) where proven tax evasion means that the receipts represent, at…

Sentencing Council guidelines should be construed, interpreted and applied by reference to the facts of the individual case. A guideline range is not an…

An extension of time to seek leave to appeal may be refused where an applicant had clear advice about the time limit and the explanation does not justify a…

Under section 101(1)(f) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, evidence may be admitted to correct a false impression where there is sufficient material for the…

On a sentence appeal, the Court of Appeal will not interfere with a refusal to suspend custody where the sentencing judge considered the applicable guideline…

Where a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser of two alternative offences but is later convicted of the more serious offence arising from the same conduct, the…

For sentencing a category 2B rape, the starting point is eight years, within a seven-to-nine-year range. Aggravating and mitigating features must be assessed…

Touching which is not inherently sexual is not excluded from being sexual merely because it is below the knee. Under section 78(b) of the Sexual Offences Act…

Where a criminal trial cannot proceed because the prosecution has no advocate, the court must decide any adjournment application by applying the overriding…

When fixing a murder minimum term, the sentencing judge must apply the general principles in Schedule 21 and relevant compatible sentencing guidelines. A…

Under Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, section 41(3)(c)(i), a shared feature of past and alleged sexual conduct does not itself establish the…

A category 2 stay for abuse of process is an exceptional, last-resort remedy. The court must first identify serious misconduct or other compelling…

The totality principle requires the overall sentence for multiple offences to reflect the offending as a whole and remain just and proportionate. There is no…

When sentencing separate offences alongside, or after, a third qualifying burglary carrying a statutory minimum term, the court must apply totality without…

In a sentence appeal involving multiple sexual offences against two victims, consecutive sentences may properly be imposed for offending against each victim…

Evidence of a non-defendant’s bad character is inadmissible under section 100 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 unless it is important explanatory evidence or…

Applications for leave to appeal against conviction or sentence should be refused where the proposed ground is not arguable and the conviction is not arguably…

A conviction may be unsafe because the accused was not fairly tried, even where the evidence of guilt is strong. The appellate court must assess alleged…

The statutory offence of public nuisance is a distinct replacement for the abolished common-law offence. The phrase “a section of the public” must be given its…

On a sentence appeal, the court’s primary task is to decide whether the overall sentence is manifestly excessive, while considering the individual sentences as…

For dangerous driving, the statutory minimum disqualification and extended-retest requirement remain effective after release from custody. Under Road Traffic…

On a reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, a sentence is unduly lenient only if it falls outside the range reasonably open to the…

When sentencing a young adult, the court must assess maturity individually. The eighteenth birthday is not a cliff edge. Youth, delayed maturity and personal…

For registered terrorism offenders, a statutory right to use a vehicle is a lawful right to control, manage or operate it. It does not require an immediate…

In a long-delayed conviction appeal, the court must decide whether the conviction is unsafe. The fact that a trial would be conducted differently today, or…

In sentencing for breach of a sexual harm prevention order, the assessment of risk must reflect the evidence and the offender’s history. Serious probation…

A guilty plea discount must be calculated accurately against the notional sentence before discount. An inadvertent mathematical error may be corrected on…

For intentional strangulation, the normal custodial starting point is 18 months, but aggravating features may justify a higher sentence. Where sentence is also…

For sentencing an offence under section 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, category 2 harm is not confined to permanent, irreversible injury. The…

Failure to surrender to bail under section 6 of the Bail Act 1976 is a distinct criminal offence, not contempt of court. The words as if in section 6(5) govern…

When sentencing a breach of a restraining order, the nature and context of the earlier offending which led to the order may properly inform the assessment of…

When sentencing assault on an emergency worker, the court must assess the basic offence by culpability and harm, apply the aggravated-offence uplift, and give…

On an application to adduce fresh evidence under section 23 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968, the decisive question is whether the material affects the safety…

A sentencing court must set the starting point for the whole sexual offending covered by a count before applying aggravating features. A continuum of…

In assessing sentence for drug-supply offending, a court may move substantially above the guideline starting point where the evidence shows a sophisticated…

A statutory presumption of dangerousness is not determinative merely because qualifying convictions exist. The sentencing court must examine the nature and…

When sentencing an offender who was under 18 at the time of the offence but is an adult at sentence, the court must ask what sentence would probably have been…

When fixing compensation for criminal injury, the court must set an amount appropriate to the proven physical and psychological harm and must have regard to…

For sentencing under the applicable harassment guideline, conduct occurring on four occasions over ten days may be persistent without amounting to persistent…

Intentional strangulation is always serious because it can quickly cause death. The fact that a victim could breathe throughout or resist the attack does not…

An appellate court may refuse a substantial extension of time where no good reason is established for the delay and the proposed appeals are wholly without…

When concurrent sentences are imposed for several serious offences, the sentence on the lead count may reflect the additional criminality of the other counts…

Whether a custodial sentence should be suspended requires a realistic assessment of the factors pointing both towards immediate custody and towards suspension.…

Where a sentencing court is limited to the powers of a magistrates’ court, the jurisdictional maximum applies to the sentence ultimately imposed. It does not…

An accomplice should not give prosecution evidence while facing serious charges arising from the same or closely related events. Those charges should normally…

An appellate court will not ordinarily admit psychiatric evidence that was available for use at trial but was not deployed there, particularly where its…

A guilty plea is not equivocal merely because the defendant maintains an account of coercion in mitigation or was advised that a section 45 defence was being…

When sentencing within a guideline range, the court must assess the actual scale and features of the offending. An aggravating feature can justify an increase…

When assessing culpability for street-level Class A drug supply, the court must consider the accepted facts as a whole. The presence of some significant-role…

An extended sentence founded on dangerousness may be imposed only for a specified offence. A court cannot attach it to an unlisted offence merely because…

A finding that a defendant is unfit to plead requires written or oral evidence from at least two registered medical practitioners, at least one of whom is duly…

An extended sentence does not follow automatically from a finding that an offender is dangerous. The sentencing court must decide whether the identified risk…

Whether to suspend a custodial sentence capable in law of suspension is primarily a matter for the sentencing judge. The Court of Appeal is a court of review…

When sentencing for breach of a community order, the court must assess the offender’s overall compliance, not merely the individual failures. It must consider…

For assault on an emergency worker, the sentencing guideline requires the court first to assess the basic assault and then to make a proportionate…

In a sentence appeal involving multiple sexual offences, the relevant guideline table must be selected by the conduct proved: where an offence of causing…

For offences under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, risk means the possibility of danger, rather than actual danger. A material risk is assessed…

Later allegations made by a complainant do not render an earlier conviction unsafe unless they materially undermine the reliability of the evidence given at…

The prosecution’s statutory right to appeal a terminating ruling is conditional on strict compliance with the acquittal-guarantee requirement. The agreement…

An extended sentence must not exceed the maximum term of imprisonment for the offence. A sentence which exceeds that limit is unlawful and must be corrected.…

The decision concerns leave to appeal, not the merits of the convictions. A proposed ground should proceed where it is arguable that the conviction may be…

A sentencing court must not impose a sentence for historical offending which may exceed the maximum penalty available when the offence was committed. Where the…

In sentencing multiple money-laundering offences, the court must assess both harm A, reflecting monetary value, and harm B, reflecting harm associated with the…

A sentencer must be informed of, and give effect to, credit for time served on remand or under a qualifying curfew when identifying the correct sentence. A…

A category 2 stay of a private prosecution is an exceptional remedy. A prosecutor’s desire to recover money lost through alleged dishonesty is not, without…

On a reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, a sentence is unduly lenient only where it falls outside the range reasonably open to the…

Under Criminal Justice Act 1988, a sentence is unduly lenient only where it falls outside the range reasonably open to the sentencing judge. Intervention is…

A sentencing court may assess a leading offender’s overlapping drug-supply activities as a whole where they form parts of a substantial commercial enterprise…

Sentencing disparity between co-defendants does not require equal sentences. Different minimum terms are justified where they reflect material differences in…

A sentence is not unjustifiably disparate merely because a co-offender received a lower sentence. The question is whether right-thinking members of the public…

Sentencing is not a mechanical exercise. Where an offence is correctly placed within a guideline category, substantial personal mitigation does not…

On a reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, a sentence is unduly lenient only if it falls outside the range reasonably open to the…

In a decoy online sexual-offence case, non-disclosure of a profile image does not make a conviction unsafe where the jury received a favourable direction…

A conviction is not necessarily unsafe because a judge misdirected the jury on an ingredient of an offence. Materiality must be assessed by reference to the…

For convictions predating the Modern Slavery Act 2015, trafficking does not confer blanket immunity from prosecution. The court must determine whether the…

In an appeal against sentence, the appellate court may correct the record where a post-commencement breach of a restraining order was charged under a repealed…

A sentence of detention for a specified period under section 250 of the Sentencing Act 2020 is unlawful for a 17-year-old unless the statutory conditions for…

In criminal appeals lodged substantially out of time, the Court of Appeal may consider the merits but may refuse an extension where the delay is inadequately…

For a passenger who attempts to enter the United Kingdom without valid entry clearance, custody will generally be required. The ordinary provisional sentence…

A sentence is unduly lenient only where it falls outside the range that a judge, applying all relevant factors, could reasonably consider appropriate. Under…

On a reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the court must not resentence merely because it would have imposed a different sentence.…

The court must stand back from consecutive sentences for multiple breaches and assess whether the aggregate sentence is just and proportionate. Consecutive…

Prosecution appeals against terminating rulings under section 58 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 require expedition. The short time limit for serving an…

A terminating ruling is unreasonable where the prosecution evidence, viewed as a whole, permits a properly directed jury to convict on rational inferences. The…

A defence witness’s exculpatory account does not retrospectively remove a case to answer. If the prosecution evidence could support a conviction, the jury must…

Discharging a criminal jury is exceptional. It requires an evident necessity or high degree of need, and remains a discretionary power to be used sparingly. If…

On a sentence appeal, where no error in principle is established, the issue is whether the sentence is manifestly excessive. Using a glass as a weapon supports…

An exceptionally late application for an extension of time to seek leave to appeal requires an adequate explanation. Where the explanation is inadequate, the…

When sentencing for multiple offences, the court must ensure that the aggregate sentence is just and proportionate by properly applying the principle of…

In an unduly lenient sentence reference, the question is whether the sentence fell outside the range reasonably available to a sentencing judge who considered…

Under section 101(1)(d) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, gang-affiliation evidence may be relevant to an important matter in issue, including identification…

Where a defendant has pleaded guilty to an incorrectly charged offence, the Court of Appeal may use section 3A of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 to substitute a…

There is no inflexible rule that sentences for related offences must be concurrent. Consecutive sentences may be imposed where the offences are distinct…

In sentencing for possession of indecent images of children, a substantial upward adjustment from the guideline starting point may be justified by the volume…

A notice abandoning an appeal is irrevocable unless the Court of Appeal treats it as a nullity. The governing question is whether the abandonment was not a…

For a life sentence, the court must itself fix a minimum term that gives effect to credit for remand custody. That exercise cannot be left to prison…

When assessing harm for perverting the course of justice, the court must weigh all the circumstances. Category 1 harm requires evidential support for an…

An exceptionally late application for leave to appeal against conviction may be refused where no good reason is given for the delay and the proposed grounds…

Realistic advice by defence counsel, and a decision not to intervene repeatedly during evidence, do not demonstrate defective representation without identified…

When resentencing for offences across several indictments, the court must apply totality and correct any count which makes the aggregate sentence manifestly…

On an appeal against sentence, a defendant cannot reopen the factual basis of a jury’s verdict or rely on a defence the jury rejected. A sentencing judge may…

For an offence of knowingly permitting premises to be used for drug supply or production, a sentencing judge may infer an expectation of substantial financial…

Sentencing an attempted robbery under the relevant guideline requires separate assessment of culpability and harm. An offender may fall within culpability…

A sentencing judge may select a lead offence and impose a sentence reflecting the offender’s overall criminality, provided that totality is observed and…

Where a person is extradited for specified offences, the Crown Court may try a different offence only if the conditions in the Extradition Act 2003 section 151…

An impairment or disorder reduces sentencing culpability only where there is a sufficient connection between it and the offending. A diagnosis may provide…

When sentencing multiple offences, the totality principle requires the overall sentence to be just and proportionate. There is no inflexible rule governing…

In County lines sentencing, a defendant who knowingly performs an operational function over a sustained period may properly be treated as having a significant…

When sentence is passed for multiple serious offences, the totality principle requires a just and proportionate sentence reflecting all the offending and all…

For an offence under section 1(1) of the Official Secrets Act 1911, the prosecution must identify a purpose for which the defendant acted. That inquiry is…

Where a drug conspiracy materially exceeds the indicative quantity in the sentencing guideline, the court may move substantially above the starting point and…

Where identification evidence has both strengths and weaknesses, a judge considering a submission of no case to answer must assess the evidence as a whole. The…

A conviction may be unsafe where judicial interventions so disturb the trial process that it becomes unfair, regardless of the strength of the evidence. Proper…

In a trial of fact under section 4A of the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, the jury decides whether the defendant did the injurious act charged, rather…

When several offences arise from related circumstances, consecutive sentences are permissible. The governing requirement is totality: the overall sentence must…

For sentencing under section 1(1)(a) of the Protection of Children Act 1978, possession and production are not separate statutory offences. The distinction is…

A trial judge has a discretion to admit prosecution evidence after closing speeches. The need for the evidence to arise ex improviso is not an absolute…

Adults sentenced for offences committed at age 18 are sentenced under the regime in force at the date of sentence, subject to the maximum available when the…

An offence under section 6(1) of the Bail Act 1976 can be committed only by a person released on bail in criminal proceedings. A person who fails to attend in…

An indicative drug quantity in sentencing guidelines is a starting point. A substantial excess may justify an increased starting point. Previous convictions…

When sentencing for transferring a firearm, the court may use reliable evidence of wider sourcing activity to assess the nature of the enterprise and the…

A sentencing court considering immediate custody for a primary carer must have sufficient reliable information about the proposed care of dependent children.…

Self-defence concerns reasonable force used against a physical attack or threat of attack. General grievance, distress or provocation arising from unrelated…

Where the prosecution invites a jury to infer a causal connection between alleged conduct and a medical condition outside ordinary knowledge, it must provide a…

Where evidence has not been recovered, preserved or disclosed, a conviction is not unsafe merely because its possible value is speculative. The appellant must…

A sentence cannot exceed the applicable statutory maximum. Under Schedule 6 to the Firearms Act 1968, the maximum for the relevant unaggravated ammunition…

For a dangerous offender, the assessment under section 285 of the Sentencing Act 2020 requires consideration of the seriousness of the offence and associated…

In sentencing for large-scale drug trafficking, a leading role does not require the offender to be the person at the very top of the organisation. The…

A sentencing court should not treat as aggravation a feature already used to place an offence in a higher culpability category. It may, however, take separate…

Under Criminal Justice Act 2003 section 101(1)(d), an earlier conviction may be admitted to prove propensity where it bears on a real issue between prosecution…

A restraining order may be made only where it is necessary to protect a victim. Its terms, including duration, must be proportionate to the harm the order…

A renewed application for leave to appeal sentence should be refused where the sentencing judge assessed the individual facts by reference to the applicable…

On a sentence appeal, the court assesses whether the overall sentence is manifestly excessive by reference to the totality of the offending. A serious offence…

A defendant convicted after trial of the more serious offence must be sentenced for that offence. The prosecution’s earlier willingness to accept a plea to a…

Article 8 family-life considerations may make an otherwise proportionate custodial sentence disproportionate. Even where custody remains necessary, the effect…

When replacing an unlawful special custodial sentence with a determinate sentence, the court must apply the whole-case safeguard in section 11(3) of the…

For an offence under section 3 of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, where no offence-specific guideline exists, the court should use analogous guidelines…

A sentencing guideline on suspended sentences is not inflexible and does not require an arithmetical relationship between the custodial term and the…

An appellate court should interfere with apparently inconsistent jury verdicts only where the inconsistency is so serious that no reasonable jury properly…

An appellate court will not interfere with an extended sentence where the sentencing judge was entitled to find the offender dangerous and the evidence…

On a sentence appeal, the Court of Appeal asks whether the sentencing judge properly applied the guidelines to the facts and weighed the competing…

In an interlocutory challenge to an order for trial without a jury under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, a late adjournment to pursue fresh evidence may be…

Under section 46 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the normal course after jury tampering is for the trial to continue without a jury, save in unusual…

In sentencing for a conspiracy to commit multiple thefts, the court should first assess the overall conspiracy by reference to the applicable theft guideline.…

On a renewed criminal appeal application, an extension of time may be refused where the proposed grounds have no merit and the sentencing judge’s approach…

For direct supply to users, the Drugs Guidelines treat quantity as less indicative of harm. The sentencing court must begin at at least category 3 harm and may…

In sentencing blackmail, the amount demanded does not determine seriousness. A threat falsely to expose a victim as a paedophile may be extremely serious…

A trial judge has a discretion whether to continue a trial when a defendant seeks to dismiss their legal representatives at a late stage. The exercise of that…

Limited research and rare direct clinical experience do not, without more, make expert evidence about neonatal air embolus inadmissible. A properly qualified…

Fresh evidence does not render a conviction unsafe merely because it strengthens an alternative explanation that was already explored at trial. The appellate…

Dangerousness is assessed at sentence on the assumption that the defendant will not be in custody and by reference to the immediate future. Risk at the point…

For an offence under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, section 329(1)(a), the jury must consider separately whether the defendant acquired the property and…

For sentencing a preparatory terrorism offence, culpability and harm are assessed by reference to the offender’s intended plan and its consequences if…

On an Attorney General’s reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, undue leniency is assessed against the full criminality, applicable…

On a reference for an unduly lenient sentence, the court must assess the whole sentencing exercise, including totality, mitigation and the proper sequence for…

When sentencing an attempt, the court must first identify the sentence appropriate for the completed offence and then make a reduction to reflect that the…

On a prosecution appeal under Criminal Justice Act 2003, a secondary party may be tried and convicted for aggravated burglary even though an alleged principal…

Jury deliberations are confidential. A court will not investigate them or receive evidence about them, save for the narrow exceptions of a complete repudiation…

Evidence from a child’s ABE interview is not excluded merely because the interviewing guidance was seriously breached. The decisive questions are the effect of…

Severe psychological harm for sentencing purposes may be established without expert evidence where the victim’s account and the surrounding circumstances…

In applying the totality principle, consecutive sentences may be appropriate where offending is separate, involves separate victims and causes separate harm. A…

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 section 24A does not itself confer a power to use force. Force used in effecting a citizen’s arrest derives from section…

In sentencing a drug conspiracy, role categorisation must be applied realistically where the facts straddle significant and lesser roles. A starting point at…

The totality principle does not require a fixed percentage reduction to each sentence or to every group of offences. Its function is to enable the sentencing…

A sentence may be unduly lenient even where the sentencing judge identifies the correct guideline category and relevant aggravating and mitigating factors. The…

When sentencing a conspiracy to supply or import controlled drugs, the court must make a fair but realistic assessment of the overall scale of the actual and…

Recall to custody for breach of an earlier licence ordinarily has no bearing on sentence for a later offence. The sentencing judge nevertheless retains a…

A late guilty plea attracts only the credit properly available at that stage. Alleged weaknesses in the prosecution case do not justify withholding a prompt…

A compensation order under the Sentencing Act 2020 requires personal injury, loss or damage resulting from the offence. A causal link between the offender’s…

A reduction for prison overcrowding is not justified when imposing a lengthy custodial sentence. The principle in R v Ali [2023] EWCA Crim 232 is directed to…

In a sentencing appeal, the absence of an express numerical starting point does not establish error where the offence category and sentencing route are clear…

An online post may constitute an offence under section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988. The statutory language covers electronic communications…

For sentencing stalking, high culpability may be established by persistence over a long period and a high degree of planning. A gap in conduct does not…

An application to extend time for seeking permission to appeal against conviction may be refused where the applicant gives no proper explanation for…

In an appeal against sentence, the assessment must reflect the guideline category, drug quantity, offender’s role and all relevant mitigation before…

A trial judge need not investigate or discharge a jury on speculation that jurors may have encountered an advocate’s social-media post. Inquiry is unnecessary…

A guilty plea ordinarily amounts to a public admission of the facts and establishes the safety of the conviction, absent special circumstances. An appellant…

In assessing culpability for wounding with intent, a sentencing judge may treat an apparently everyday implement as analogous to a highly dangerous weapon…

A sentence is unduly lenient only where it falls outside the range reasonably open to the sentencing judge after considering all relevant factors. Appellate…

An adequate Turnbull direction must identify the case-specific features capable of weakening identification evidence and enable the jury to understand why…

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…

For drug-supply sentencing, role classification under the Sentencing Council guidelines turns on the offender’s culpability and function within the operation.…

A substantial extension of time to seek leave to appeal against conviction is not in the interests of justice where the explanations for a prolonged delay are…

In a sentencing appeal involving multiple offences, the totality principle requires the aggregate sentence to be just and proportionate to the offending viewed…

A sentence is unduly lenient where it falls outside the range that a judge who considered all relevant factors could reasonably regard as appropriate. For an…

The statutory restriction on evidence and questioning about a complainant’s sexual behaviour is engaged where the defence suggests that abuse by another person…

An appeal against sentence ordinarily reviews the sentence imposed on the material before the sentencing court. It is not a re-sentencing exercise based on…

A sentence is unduly lenient only where it falls outside the range which a judge applying all relevant factors could reasonably regard as appropriate. When…

A jury verdict is not validated merely because a majority direction was given. Under section 17(1) of the Juries Act 1974, at least 10 of 11 jurors must agree.…

In sentencing for conspiracy to defraud, personal culpability must be assessed against the offender’s accepted basis of plea. That does not necessarily confine…

Where opposing groups deliberately engage in mutual gunfire, the necessary common purpose to shoot and be shot at may be inferred if each participant knows it…

A sentencing court must follow a relevant definitive guideline and, where an offence-specific guideline applies, sentence within its overall offence range…

Where sentencing remarks clearly disclose an intended guilty plea reduction, an accidental mathematical slip which gives a smaller reduction may be corrected…

Jury deliberations are confidential and evidence about them is inadmissible, subject only to narrow exceptions. These concern a complete repudiation of the…

In sentence appeals involving serious, distinct drug and firearms offending, consecutive terms may be imposed where the court applies totality and makes an…

Evidence of an earlier rape allegation ending in an acquittal may properly be admitted where its similarities to the charged conduct give it substantial…

In sentencing for conspiracy to defraud, legitimate subscription income may provide a practical indication of loss caused or risked. Detailed contractual or…

A sentencing judge must distinguish a guideline starting point from the notional sentence after trial and must assess mitigation separately. Pregnancy must be…

When sentencing historical sexual offending, the court must make measured reference to the current guideline for equivalent offences while respecting the…

In an Attorney General reference, a sentence is unduly lenient only if it falls outside the range that a reasonable sentencing judge, applying all relevant…

Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the prosecution may appeal a Crown Court ruling if it gives the statutory acquittal undertaking. “Ruling” has the wide…

Under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, a sentence is unduly lenient only if it falls outside the range reasonably open to the sentencing judge. The…

When two or more offenders under 18 are sentenced for the same murder, Sentencing Code (Schedule 21, paragraph 5A) applies to each offender. It is not confined…

Where self-defence is raised, a tribunal should receive directions on both whether force was necessary and whether its amount was reasonable, unless the…

Under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, an employer’s duty may arise where its operations expose an individual employee to a real and…

A Crown Court sentence is the sentence pronounced by the judge in open court. A court record, warrant or administrative entry cannot correct, supplement or…

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order must be limited to restrictions that are necessary and proportionate to protect the public from sexual harm in the individual…

In sentencing a drug conspiracy, the court must assess an offender’s individual role and any factors limiting it. It may also take account of the wider…

Recognition as a victim of modern slavery does not automatically extinguish criminal culpability or establish a defence. Whether section 45 of the Modern…

An appellate court will not interfere with a sentencing judge’s findings of fact unless they are internally inconsistent, inconsistent with an uncontroverted…

In sentencing for murder, the aggravating factors listed in Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020 are not exhaustive. The sentencing judge may take account of…

Although a serious group robbery involving an offensive weapon will ordinarily require immediate custody, a sentencing court must give adequate weight to…

An earlier sentencing decision that was expressly not intended as a guideline case does not fix a general starting point for later offending. Its suggested…

For the offence of attempting knowingly to arrive in the United Kingdom without valid entry clearance, the starting point before aggravation, mitigation and…

A custodial sentence of less than two years is not automatically to be suspended. The sentencing court must apply the Sentencing Council’s Imposition of…

An appellate court will not interfere with a conviction merely because an applicant disputes the jury’s assessment of the evidence. Leave to appeal should be…

Fresh evidence should not be admitted to support an appeal against conviction where, even if accepted as credible, it is incapable of supporting an arguable…

For an attempt to incite a child to sexual activity, sentence is assessed by reference to the sexual activity intended. Where the child does not exist but the…

In sentencing appeals, an inadvertent failure to apply the guilty-plea reduction appropriate to the stage at which pleas were entered may be corrected by…

A conviction following a guilty plea may be unsafe where fresh evidence gives good reason to suppose that the plea deprived the defendant of a defence which…

In sentencing a child for a serious sexual offence, custody may be justified where penetrative activity involves pressure, a threat of violence or severe…

When sentencing an adult for offending committed as a child, the starting point under the Children guideline is the headline sentence likely to have been…

In sentencing for multiple murders, the starting points in Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020 must guide, not dictate, the minimum term. They must not be…

Where an offender’s mental disorder satisfies the conditions for a hospital order, the sentencing court must consider all available disposals, including a…

A sentencing judge must not increase an offender’s culpability category on the sole basis of disputed allegations of prior violence where no evidence has been…

In sentencing for rape, vulnerability may affect both harm and culpability. A victim need not meet the guideline threshold of particular vulnerability for…

Under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, a sentence is unduly lenient only if it falls outside the range reasonably open to the sentencing judge…

For a category A offence involving distribution of indecent images of children, the sentencing guideline starting point was three years’ custody. The sentence…

A conviction returned at an earlier trial may be admitted on a retrial where it forms part of the facts of the alleged offending or is relevant bad-character…

On a sentence appeal, the basic offence should be assessed under the applicable sentencing guideline before any racial-aggravation uplift is applied. A highly…

In a sentence appeal, a recorder’s reference to a complainant’s reluctance does not amount to an impermissible finding that force was used where the reference…

When imposing a life sentence, the minimum term is part of the sentence. The court must calculate it as a specific period after taking account of qualifying…

For the rebuttable dangerousness assumption in section 229(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the sentencing court must make a genuine evaluative assessment…

A juror is not disqualified merely because personal experience resembles allegations at trial. The relevant question is whether there is an evident need for…

A stay of criminal proceedings for abuse of process is an exceptional remedy of last resort. The two limbs of abuse are distinct: a stay may follow where a…

For the offence of fraudulent evasion of VAT under Value Added Tax Act 1994, obtaining a VAT credit is itself treated as evasion. The prosecution need not…

Full credit for a guilty plea at the first stage requires an unequivocal indication of a guilty plea given publicly at the hearing. A private communication to…

Unlawful act manslaughter requires proof of every element of the underlying criminal offence. It is insufficient to prove conduct that contributed to a death…

For an offence under section 5(1)(c) of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, the significant risk of serious physical harm must exist before, and…

A person claiming joint legal professional privilege with a company must establish that the solicitor was instructed to advise that person individually as well…

In a sentence appeal, the Court of Appeal will not interfere where the sentencing judge correctly applies the relevant guideline category, assesses the…

Where confiscation proceedings rest on particular criminal conduct, a final jury conviction which necessarily established that a defined sum was criminal…

For indecent assault under section 14(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 1956, an assault may take the form of a battery. Battery requires the intentional or…

Criminal Justice Act 2003 section 240ZA provides a comprehensive statutory scheme for crediting time in custody. A sentencing court has an exceptional…

In a criminal appeal, an applicant’s private interests in avoiding reputational, financial or family consequences will not ordinarily displace the public…

When a conspiracy to supply drugs and a conspiracy to transfer criminal property concern the same proceeds and are closely linked, they should be treated as…

When applying the Sentencing Council’s Rape Guidelines, two or more category 2 harm factors do not justify elevation to category 1 merely because they are…

On a renewed application for leave to appeal against conviction, the question is whether the conviction is arguably unsafe. A summing-up must be read fairly…

Under section 76(2)(b) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the issue is assessed objectively and by reference to the circumstances at the time of the…

A fit defendant who enters an unambiguous guilty plea ordinarily makes a voluntary admission, and a conviction based on it is safe. The narrow exception for…

An extension of time and leave to appeal should be refused where the proposed conviction appeal identifies no arguable unfairness or error capable of affecting…

A sentence for a serious firearms conspiracy is not manifestly excessive where the sentencing judge has properly reflected the offender’s lesser, but still…

Sentencing an offender who has provided information or assistance requires a fact-specific assessment of all relevant circumstances. The reduction is pragmatic…

In an out-of-time criminal appeal, the court must examine all the circumstances, including the length and reasons for delay and the wider interests of justice.…

Crossing the custody threshold does not determine whether a custodial sentence should be suspended. The sentencing judge must consider all the circumstances…

An appellate court will not interfere with a sentence where the sentencing judge was entitled to adopt the starting points, assess culpability and harm, make…

In sentencing for large-scale supply of prescription drugs, a commercial and sophisticated operation may justify treating an offender as having a leading role…

A sentencing judge must not materially depart from an agreed basis of plea without notice to the parties. If the offender maintains the basis and the judge is…

In a jury trial involving multiple complainants, collusion or contamination requires some credible factual basis beyond the fact that witnesses know or may…

On an appeal against sentence for driving whilst disqualified, the court must apply the relevant guideline category and reflect statutory aggravation without…

On a reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, a sentence is unduly lenient only if it falls outside the range reasonably available to the…

On a submission of no case to answer, the prosecution evidence must be taken at its highest. Where detailed evidence fixes charged acts to a particular…

An extension of time to seek leave to appeal against conviction may be refused where the explanation does not credibly justify a substantial delay. A…

Age and developmental maturity are relevant to culpability when sentencing a young adult. A sentencing judge must address those matters where properly raised…

On an appeal against sentence, the decisive question is whether the sentence actually imposed is manifestly excessive. Sentencing is an evaluative exercise…

In sentencing for illegal downloading, distribution or streaming of subscription-only content, the court should consider the difficulty of detection…

Expert evidence about post-traumatic stress disorder may be relevant to self-defence where it assists the jury’s assessment of the defendant’s perceived threat…

Where exceptional circumstances justify departing from a statutory minimum sentence, paragraph 14 of the sentencing guideline gives the judge a discretion. It…

A sentencing judge may, in an appropriate case, set a sentence above the top of the applicable category range where the aggravating factors, considered…

In sentencing a drug-supply conspiracy, the guideline for substantive supply is relevant but does not directly govern. Harm must be assessed by reference to…

A sentencing judge may elevate harm from Category 2 to Category 1 where the extreme nature of one or more Category 2 factors, or the extreme impact caused by…

Under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, the Court of Appeal does not re-sentence an offender. A sentence is unduly lenient only where it falls…

The two-year permitted period under section 14 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is procedural. It regulates the time for concluding confiscation proceedings…

Under Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, once the duty to proceed under section 6 arises, a prosecutor’s purported withdrawal does not itself end confiscation…

On an appeal against conviction, criticism of trial counsel or an alternative strategy does not establish that the convictions are unsafe. The court must…

When sentencing aggravated burglary under the applicable guideline, categorisation must reflect the harm actually, intended and foreseeably caused. Serious…

Paying for a house built on another person’s land does not itself create an equitable or proprietary interest in the house or land. A common intention…

A custodial sentence within the applicable guideline range will not be manifestly excessive where the sentencing judge correctly identifies culpability and…

When jury verdicts admit more than one possible factual interpretation, the sentencing judge must determine the factual basis to the criminal standard. If no…

An appellate court will not interfere with a sentencing judge’s assessment that an offender is dangerous unless the judge acted on a wrong principle or reached…

In sentencing historic sexual offences against children, harm may properly be placed in a higher guideline category where a combination of factors establishes…

Under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, a sentence is unduly lenient only if it falls outside the range reasonably open to the sentencing judge. The…

For a professionally planned commercial robbery, culpability may fall in the high-culpability guideline category where bladed articles are produced to threaten…

Where an offender repeatedly breaches restraining orders protecting the same victim, sentencing must reflect the persistence of the campaign of harassment and…

Where sentencing evidence indicates that an offender may have a mental disorder, developmental disorder or neurological impairment relevant to disposal, the…

A Category 2 harm assessment for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life requires an elevated risk of death or severe physical harm. That risk is…

Time limits governing applications under Schedule 3 to the Criminal Justice Act 1988 are to be applied strictly. Where the statutory scheme fixes a period for…

The LIBOR and EURIBOR definitions required a submitting bank to assess a single borrowing rate: the lowest rate at which the relevant bank could borrow.…

A defendant is unfit to plead where he cannot perform any one of the functions identified by the Pritchard criteria, including understanding the charge…

Fresh evidence said to undermine a complainant’s credibility must be assessed in its full evidential context. An answer to a compound and unclear question…

A defendant is entitled to a good character direction only if he or she is of good character or is properly treated as being of effective good character.…

For the statutory partial defence of loss of control, the trial judge must make a rigorous, sequential and separate assessment of whether sufficient evidence…

For an offence under section 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, where no offence-specific sentencing guideline exists, the court should begin with the guideline…

A charge brought under the wrong statutory regime does not invalidate a guilty plea where the error is technical, the offence is known to law, and the defect…

On an Attorney General’s reference, a sentence is unduly lenient only if no reasonable judge could have imposed it. Where mitigation takes the sentence below a…

A charging error that causes no prejudice or embarrassment to the defendant does not, without more, invalidate the charge or render the proceedings a nullity.…

Historical sexual offences should not be sentenced by mechanically applying current guideline figures or by treating the historic maximum as merely a cap. The…

A conviction is not unsafe merely because the jury reached no verdict on related counts. Evidence elicited in cross-examination, although it was not part of…

In a strict-liability firearms offence, ignorance of a container’s contents normally does not prevent possession of those contents. A genuine planted-article…

In an appeal against sentence, a defendant’s caring responsibilities must not automatically be denied mitigating weight because a local authority may be…

In sentencing for drug supply, the court must assess the guideline category and role, adjust for the actual quantity and mitigation, and apply full credit for…

Section 5(2)(a) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 creates a subjective defence based on an honestly held belief at the time of the act. The belief must be that…

When sentencing under offence-specific guidelines, the court must impose a sentence within the overall offence range. A seriousness category identifies the…

Where a sentencing guideline applies, previous sentences are not usually reliable factual comparators. Other cases should be cited for points of principle…

A sentencing judge dealing with manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility may refuse to adjourn sentence for further psychiatric reports where the…

An offence tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice will almost invariably require an immediate custodial sentence. Deterrence and the…

A deprivation order requires proof to the criminal standard that the property was used to commit or facilitate an offence, or was intended for that purpose. A…

Evidence of reprehensible conduct shortly after a charged offence is not automatically evidence that has to do with the facts under section 98(a) of the…

A direction on cross-admissibility must be tailored to the particular evidence and must accurately explain the separate roles of coincidence and propensity.…

In sentencing for conspiracy to import class A drugs, a sentencing judge may adjust upwards from the guideline starting point to reflect culpability and may…

A permit condition requiring an operator to manage and operate activities in accordance with a written fire-prevention plan, using relevant guidance, makes…

Where a defendant pleaded guilty without being advised of a statutory defence which would probably have succeeded, the omission may amount to a clear…

A jury direction on omissions in interview and in a defence statement is sufficient if it conveys the essential safeguards, including that any adverse…

A sentencing guideline introduced after an offence must be applied, subject to the statutory maximum in force when the offence was committed. An offence of…

Contempt in the face of the court includes deliberate conduct which creates a real, rather than remote, risk of interfering with the due administration of…

At the no-case stage, a manslaughter case against an alleged secondary party may properly be left to the jury where the evidence supports inferences of active…

Where conspirators agree to produce or supply amphetamine designed for administration by injection, it is a class A drug. Its classification depends on that…

An adult sentencing court must obtain and consider a pre-sentence report before assessing dangerousness where the statutory requirements apply, unless it…

An appellate court assesses an alleged misdirection by asking whether it could conceivably affect the safety of the conviction in the light of the totality of…

When sentencing multiple offences, consecutive terms may be appropriate where the offending occurred on separate occasions and involved separate victims. The…

In sentencing drug offences, a broker may properly be treated as having a leading role where the evidence shows direction and organisation of commercial…

In a secondary-party attempted murder case, jury directions are sufficient where they address the defendant’s knowledge that the principal had a gun, the…

A guideline-based sentence for sexual assault requires a proper assessment of harm and culpability. Severe psychological harm and the use or threat of violence…

In murder sentencing under Schedule 21 to the Sentencing Act 2020, statutory starting points must be applied flexibly to achieve a just and proportionate…

Where a previous conviction is admissible as bad character evidence and proved, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, section 74(3) creates a rebuttable…

Under the pre-28 June 2022 version of Sentencing Act 2020 s 313(2), the exception to a seven-year minimum term is open-textured. An offender’s health condition…

A sentence is unduly lenient only if it falls outside the range reasonably open to the sentencing judge, and intervention remains exceptional. However…

An extended sentence is lawful only if the statutory eligibility conditions are met: the offender has a qualifying prior conviction, or the appropriate…

Where a defendant is convicted under the wrong firearms provision, the conviction is unsafe and must be quashed. The Court of Appeal’s substitution power is…

For a child or young person who has committed serious and repeated violent acquisitive offending, a sentence of detention may be necessary despite youth and…

A sentence is the sentence pronounced in open court. An administratively recorded sentence is not valid. Where more than one count is involved, the sentence on…

In a sentence appeal for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, a sentence is not wrong in principle or manifestly excessive where it falls well within…

For the statutory minimum term under section 313 of the Sentencing Act 2020, exceptional circumstances may arise where an offender is chronologically an adult…

In sentencing for causing death by dangerous driving, the guideline starting point may be increased for aggravating features and then reduced for mitigation.…

On an Attorney General’s reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, a sentence is unduly lenient only if it falls outside the range…

When sentencing a young adult for murder, the statutory starting point is a guide rather than a mechanical result. Although chronological age selects the…

Late disclosure does not make a conviction unsafe without identifiable unfairness or prejudice. The applicant must explain how earlier disclosure could have…

For evidence of a non-defendant’s bad character to be admitted under section 100(1)(b) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, it must have substantial probative…

In sentencing drug-supply conspiracies, a leading role, a sophisticated operation, previous convictions and linked offending may justify moving above the…

A complaint about late service does not justify an adjournment where the material was already available by other means and the defendant suffered no prejudice…

Sentencing for drug importation must reflect both harm and culpability. A guideline quantity is indicative, not a rigid threshold which automatically…

A final appellate determination that an agreed confiscation benefit figure cannot be reopened prevents that figure being challenged again during a later…

A sentence is unduly lenient if it falls outside the range of sentences which a judge, applying all relevant factors, could reasonably consider appropriate.…

A victim personal statement may help the sentencing court assess the effects of an offence, but it is evidence and must be served in time for the defence to…

A conclusive grounds decision that a person is a victim of trafficking is not binding on a criminal court. The court must ordinarily respect it unless contrary…

Evidence of a non-defendant’s bad character is admissible under Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 100 only where the statutory threshold is met. Evidence said…

Whether to suspend a custodial sentence requires an evaluative judgment. Relevant factors must be weighed, but the exercise is not a numerical comparison and…

Deferred sentence is an exceptional sentencing disposal. It is appropriate only for a small group of cases near a custody or community-sentence threshold where…

For drug-supply sentencing, an offender should be assessed as having a limited role where the evidence does not clearly establish the awareness, involvement or…

A Lucas direction is not required whenever a defendant gives evidence which the jury may find to be untrue. It is required only where there is a danger that…

For multiple serious sexual offences, a sentencing court may impose consecutive sentences or impose a sentence on one count reflecting the total offending and…

Passing the custody threshold does not make immediate imprisonment inevitable. The court must still consider whether a community sentence or suspended sentence…

A sentence is unduly lenient only where it falls outside the range which a judge, applying all relevant factors, could reasonably regard as appropriate. Under…

Where a prosecution depends essentially on Horizon data and there is no independent evidence of actual loss, failures to investigate and disclose known…

When sentencing criminal-property offending alongside a related substantive offence, the court must identify any additional culpability or harm. Separate and…

A defendant’s admission of sexual intercourse with a complainant aged under 16 may amount to bad character, even where the conduct was not charged, and the…

A finding of dangerousness under Sentencing Act 2020, section 279 may properly rest on a detailed, evidence-based assessment of the current specified offence…

Incompetent or improper advocacy does not, by itself, make a conviction unsafe. The appellant must show identifiable errors or irregularities which rendered…

Where a prosecution introduces a defence witness statement after the defence case to rebut an alibi, the court must identify the basis of admissibility. A…

An appellate court will consider the merits of a proposed appeal despite a lengthy and unexplained delay. Where the material gives no proper basis to doubt the…

On a no-case submission involving non-insane automatism, once the defence has an evidential basis, the prosecution must provide evidence from which a properly…

For grave multiple sexual offences, an extended sentence must still contain the shortest custodial term commensurate with the seriousness of the offending. A…

Credit for custody abroad while awaiting extradition is governed by what is just in all the circumstances. Under the current regime in the Criminal Justice Act…

An extension of time for a criminal sentence appeal may be granted where there is a good reason for delay and, ordinarily, significant injustice would…

Fresh evidence may be received under section 23(2) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 only where it is necessary or expedient in the interests of justice. The…

An extension of time to seek leave to appeal against conviction should be refused where the proposed grounds have no reasonable prospect of success and…

A sentence for fraud by abuse of position will not be open to challenge merely because the offender has compelling personal mitigation, including having been…

In sentencing appeals, the appropriate comparison is with the applicable Sentencing Council guideline and the particular facts of the offence. Sentences…

Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 21 provides illustrative, rather than exhaustive, aggravating and mitigating factors for murder sentencing. A judge may therefore…

A defendant who becomes unrepresented during a criminal trial remains entitled to a fair trial and to the benefit of any continuing representation order. The…

For sentencing attempted murder, harm must be categorised under the attempted-murder guideline by applying the ordinary meaning of ‘serious physical harm’. The…

Where a sentencing judge does not hold a Newton hearing, the offender’s basis of plea must be accepted. The judge must then assess culpability consistently…

Where a defendant does not give evidence, defence counsel may challenge the strength of the prosecution case and rely on the judge’s direction protecting the…

Whether aggravated burglary involved a significant degree of planning is fact-specific. The court must assess the cumulative effect of the offender’s…

For causing death by dangerous driving, seriousness under the applicable guideline is determined predominantly by the standard of driving. Level 1 requires…

A restraining order following conviction must be necessary and proportionate to the harm to be prevented. Where a child has witnessed abusive conduct and is…

In sentencing for a drug conspiracy, the Sentencing Council guideline may be used but is not expressly controlling and should not be applied mechanically. The…

On a sentence appeal, fresh expert evidence may be admitted only after considering whether it is capable of belief, may support the appeal, would have been…

A late amendment of an indictment after guilty pleas will not ordinarily amount to an abuse of process merely because the prosecution had accepted those pleas.…

When sentencing an offence of arranging or facilitating a child sexual offence, the court should avoid double counting conduct already reflected in the…

Where a prosecution depends essentially on Horizon accounting data and there is no independent evidence of an actual loss, the reliability of that data is…

On a delayed sentence for an offence committed in youth, the relevant starting point is the sentence likely to have been imposed at the time of the offence. A…

When deciding whether particular circumstances make it unjust to impose a statutory minimum sentence, the court may consider the offender’s realistic prospect…

Evidence of a complainant’s earlier complaint is evidence of what the complainant said on another occasion. It does not provide independent support for the…

For sentencing sexual offences, a victim may be particularly vulnerable due to personal circumstances where the victim is a child, has consumed alcohol and is…

In an appeal against sentence, the assessment of whether a concurrent sentence for multiple sexual offences is manifestly excessive must consider the offending…

A genuine belief that one has a legal right to recover property provides a conclusive defence to dishonesty under section 2(1)(a) of the Theft Act 1968. A…

A relevant offence-specific sentencing guideline must be followed unless the interests of justice require departure, and the sentencing reasons should identify…

Evidence does not become fresh for an appeal merely because a convicted person later wishes to run a different case. Where proposed material was available at…

A sentencing guideline may permit a notional sentence above the top of the applicable category range where aggravating features justify that course. Recent…

Departure from a statutory minimum sentence requires truly exceptional circumstances. The court must consider the offence and offender together and ask whether…

Where people-smuggling offences have no offence-specific sentencing guideline, sentence must reflect the offender’s individual role, culpability, harm and…

In a very late application for leave to appeal against conviction, the court must consider whether there is good reason to extend time and whether the proposed…

A sentence is unduly lenient only where it falls outside the range that a sentencing judge, taking account of all relevant factors, could reasonably consider…

Where jury tampering has occurred, a judge may continue an indictment without a jury only if satisfied to the criminal standard that the statutory conditions…

A trial judge may comment, including trenchantly, on evidence and on the effects of delay, provided the jury’s exclusive role in deciding facts is made clear.…

For an intimidation offence involving interference with a police investigation, the prosecution must adduce evidence capable of making a properly directed jury…

Under Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 21 provides a broad framework for fixing a murder minimum term. The court must assess the particular offending and…

A criminal trial may proceed in a defendant’s absence only where the defendant has waived the right to attend and the trial will remain fair. The discretion…

Where a prosecution under Malicious Communications Act 1988 section 1 concerns protected political expression, the statutory language must be interpreted and…

For offences under sections 328 and 329 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the prosecution must prove that the property derives from criminal conduct and that…

A renewed application for permission to appeal against conviction may properly be refused where the applicant identifies no arguable ground capable of showing…

In an appeal against sentence for a historic sexual offence, the sentence must reflect the precise count of conviction, the statutory offence charged and any…

When sentencing theft by a carer from elderly and infirm residents, harm is not measured by monetary value alone. Sentimental value, emotional distress and the…

A substantial and wholly unexplained delay in seeking permission to appeal sentence is sufficient reason to refuse an extension of time. A leading role in a…

A lengthy delay in applying for leave to appeal against conviction may justify refusal of an extension where no sufficient explanation is given and the…

On an out-of-time application for permission to appeal, the decisive question is whether an extension is in the interests of justice. That requires…

When applying the Totality Guideline, the overriding question is whether the overall sentence is just and proportionate. Consecutive sentences are not…

Fresh evidence may render convictions unsafe where it shows that the principal prosecution witnesses were dishonest and were themselves committing…

A conviction is not rendered unsafe merely because the jury were not shown a forensic report. Where the jury hear live evidence about the report’s findings…

Where sexual offending against a supposed child involves no actual child victim, harm is assessed by reference to the intended harm. A modest reduction within…

In sentencing a young offender for multiple sexual offences, the court must assess the whole offending and all aggravating and mitigating features. Sentencing…

A mental disorder may mitigate a murder minimum term under Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 21, paragraph 10(c), even where it cannot establish diminished…

In a renewed sentence appeal, permission should be refused where the proposed grounds disclose no arguable error in the sentencing judge’s approach. Under the…

In a sentencing appeal, the appellate court may reduce a custodial sentence where the sentencing judge was entitled to increase the guideline starting point…

Where the prosecution does not accept a defendant’s basis of plea and the defendant elects not to seek a Newton hearing, the sentencing judge must determine…

Where several offences form a persistent course of conduct, sentencing should assess the conduct as a whole. Separate counts may properly attract concurrent…

Where persistent and deliberate breaches of court orders justify moving an offence into a higher sentencing category, that history should not also produce a…

In sentencing for street dealing, mitigation must be assessed cumulatively. Genuine remorse, substantial steps towards overcoming drug addiction, a resolution…

A deliberate and repeated failure to comply with counter-terrorism notification requirements may properly attract a firm and deterrent custodial sentence. The…

When sentencing for multiple offences, the court must have express regard to the Sentencing Council Guideline on Totality and stand back from the individual…

When concurrent offences arise from the same events, a sentencing judge may increase the sentence for each offence, or the lead offence, to reflect the total…

For an out-of-time criminal appeal based on a change in law, faithful application of the law then in force does not by itself justify relief. The applicant…

A guilty plea entered during trial may properly attract no reduction where the principal witness has already attended court and endured the prospect of giving…

On a sentence appeal, a trial judge may assess harm by reference to the evidence as a whole and place the case between sentencing-guideline categories…

A non-commercial social supply of drugs acquired through pooled resources is not, without more, selling directly to users for the purposes of the drug-offences…

Different tactical decisions by new lawyers do not establish an unsafe conviction. An appellant alleging incompetent representation must identify errors or…