‘Give them air quickly – don’t let them out’: Sentencing for manslaughter involving multiple offenders and victims
| DOI | 10.1177/00220183211024736 |
| Date | 01 October 2021 |
| Author | Julian V Roberts |
| Published date | 01 October 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
‘Give them air quickly – don’t
let them out’: Sentencing for
manslaughter involving multiple
offenders and victims
Julian V Roberts
University of Oxford, UK
Abstract
Sentencing for multiple offences poses many challenges and becomes even more complex
when the crimes resulted in fatalities. This article uses the sentences imposed following
convictions in the Essex lorry case to pose some general questions about the sentencing of
multiple victim manslaughters. The four principal offenders were convicted of 39 counts of
unlawful act manslaughter and conspiracy to facilitate unlawful immigration into the UK. The
analysis identifies several ways in which the sentences ultimately imposed failed to adequately
distinguish between offenders of very different levels of culpability. First, all four principal
offenders were assigned to the same level of culpability in the manslaughter guideline. Second,
although the court could have distinguished the offenders to reflect their different culpability
levels, the same Starting Point sentence was imposed on all offenders. Third, the sentencing
uplifts to reflect the multiple counts were similar across offenders of very different culpabilities.
Fourth, the differential additional punishments for the conspiracy conviction — which would
have separated the offenders’ time in custody further — were washed out by being made
concurrent. As a result of these decisions, the final sentences failed to adequately distinguish
between offenders of very different culpabilities. The article concludes with some lessons for
sentencing in these cases, specifically with respect to the Sentencing Council’s guidelines.
Keywords
Sentencing manslaughter, multiple offence sentencing, concurrent sentencing
Introduction
Sentencing for multiple offences poses many challenges and becomes even more complex when the
crimes resulted in fatalities. This article draws upon sentences imposed for convictions in the Essex lorry
Corresponding author:
Julian V Roberts, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, St Cross Building, Manor Road, Oxford, Ox1 3UQ, UK.
E-mail: julian.roberts@crim.ox.ac.uk
The Journal of Criminal Law
ªThe Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/00220183211024736
journals.sagepub.com/home/clj
2021, Vol. 85(5) 375–387
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