Crown Appeal against Sentence by His Majesty's Advocate against CC
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Court | High Court of Justiciary |
| Judge | Lord Justice Clerk,Lady Wise,Lord Clark |
| Judgment Date | 28 August 2026 |
| Neutral Citation | [2026] HCJAC 39 |
| Date | 28 August 2026 |
| Published date | 28 August 2026 |
| Docket Number | HCA/2026/000241/XC |
APPEAL COURT, HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY
[2026] HCJAC 39
HCA/2026/000241/XC
Lord Justice Clerk
Lady Wise
Lord Clark
OPINION OF THE COURT
delivered by LORD BECKETT, the LORD JUSTICE CLERK
in
CROWN APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE
by
HIS MAJESTY’S ADVOCATE
Appellant
against
CC
Respondent
Appellant: Harvey; Crown Agent
Respondent: Culross; Paterson Bell Solicitors
28 August 2026
Introduction
[1] The Crown challenges a sentence of imprisonment for 14 months imposed
cumulatively on two charges on 7 April 2026 at Falkirk Sheriff Court on two grounds: first,
that the sentence was unduly lenient; and, secondly, that the sheriff erred in declining to
impose a non-harassment order.
[2] The charges in question are these:
2
“(001) between [late] 2008 and … February 2024 … [at six addresses and other places
in Grangemouth and elsewhere] you …did assault [his son DD aged between 3 and
18]… and did on various occasions shout and act in an aggressive manner towards
him, repeatedly punch and strike him on the head and body with your hands and
knee, repeatedly kick him to the head and body, seize hold of him, seize him by the
neck, all to his injury;
(005) between … January 2022 and… February 2024, both dates inclusive at [two
addresses in] Grangemouth and elsewhere you …did on various occasions assault
[his daughter EE, aged between 11 and 13] …and did repeatedly shout and scream at
her, push her on the body, throw her to the ground, drag and pull her, kick her on
the body, strike her head repeatedly against a couch, repeatedly seize her by her
throat and compress same, thereby restricting her breathing, all to her injury and
danger of life.”
The addresses in charge 5 were the same as two of the addresses in charge 1. The jury also
convicted the respondent of three other charges that are not challenged in the appeal. The
sheriff imposed a sentence of 3 months on charge 2 and a cumulative sentence of
imprisonment for 3 months on charges 3 and 4, directing that they run concurrently with
each other and the cumulative sentence on charges 1 and 5.
[3] The overall time to be served was 14 months. In summary, the other charges were
these:
• Charge 2- neglect towards DD, EE and GG on 2 September 2017 under the Children
and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 section 12(1);
• Charge 3 – recording images of DD’s genitals, buttocks and underwear enabling him
and someone else to look at the images on an occasion in the spring of 2022; Sexual
Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 sections 9(1) and (4B); and
• Charge 4 – causing a woman to look at a sexual image, namely a picture of DD’s
testicles, on an occasion in late 2023.
The circumstances of the respondent and justice social work report
[4] The respondent was 42 years old when sentence was passed. He is both DD and
EE’s father. The respondent was between 25 and 40 when he committed charge 1. He has
no previous convictions. He had a stable childhood and left school at 17 with some
qualifications and has generally been in work, usually in the field of security over the last
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