Victim Impact Statement in UK Law

Once an indication has been given, it is binding and remains binding on the judge who has given it, and it also binds any other judge who becomes responsible for the case. In principle, the judge who has given an indication should, where possible, deal with the case immediately, and if that is not possible, any subsequent hearings should be listed before him.

Experience has shown that in the overwhelming majority of cases, after a statement has been prepared, it is put before the sentencing court in the usual way, and then summarised, or sometimes in whole or in part read aloud in open court by the prosecuting advocate. The judge will always have read the statement himself, and may sometimes choose not only to indicate that it has been taken into account, but to quote any relevant passages in court.

In our view, given that there is such a marked disparity in the starting point between categories 1 and 2, the sorts of harm and violence which will justify placing a case within category 1 must be significantly above the serious level of harm which is normal for the purpose of section 18.

The concept of sustained or repeated, in our view, imports some degree of persistent repetition. In order for a sentence to be compliant with the test of proportionality, the facts warranting the higher sentence should reflect the difference in the guidelines. We do not wish to be more specific or precise than this because we acknowledge that each case will entail a very fact-specific assessment.

Judging whether it is necessary for the protection of the public that a prisoner be confined is often no easy matter. What is necessary for the protection of the public is that the risk of re-offending is at a level that does not outweigh the hardship of keeping a prisoner detained after he has served the term commensurate with his fault. Deciding whether this is the case is the Board's judicial function.

The limit of its power is that the court must be satisfied that, taking the case as a whole, the appellant is not being dealt with more severely on appeal. That requires a detailed consideration of the impact of the sentence to be substituted which must involve considerations of entitlement to automatic release, parole eligibility and licence.

On the evening of 10 March 2012 he and his father were walking past the garden area on their way out into the car park when Ace ran out of the garden area and attacked Inderjit, knocking him to the ground and biting him on the arm, back and leg. Mr Gill tried to chase the dog away and the appellant and two other men also intervened. Eight stitches were inserted and he was kept in hospital overnight. He had bruising to his arm and ribs, together with scratches.