In Court
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455050004700428 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
298
IN COURT
Nigel
Stone,
Senior
Lecturer
in
the
School
of
Social
Work,
University
of
East
Anglia,
reviews
recent
appeal
judgements
and
other
judicial
developments
that
inform
sentencing,
early
release
and
court
welfare
practice.
CEO=
Exasperated
that
his
ex-partner
would
not
pay
anything
towards
their
joint
debts
incurred
when
they
lived
together
and
had
not
responded
to
his
letters
requesting
her
contribution,
a
man
aged
25
wrote
to
her
indicating
that
if
she
did
not
pay
£900
he
would
circulate
sexually
explicit
photographs
of
her
taken
during
their
time
together.
She had
reason
to
fear
that
he
would
publish
these
on
the
Internet.
On
his
guilty
plea
to
blackmail,
he
was
sentenced
to
18
months
imprisonment.
While
upholding
that
custody
was
justified,
the
Appeal
Court
ruled
that,
in
the
light
of
his
previous
good
character,
a
term
of 12
months
was
adequate
to
satisfy
the
necessary
aim
of
deterrence.
R
v
KEWELL
[2000]
2 Cr
App
R(S)
38.
.. ,
w ,
,
§
#
&dquo;
S
‘
As
a
further
illustration
of
the
approach
to
racially
motivated
crime,
in
R
v
JESSON
[2000]
2
Cr
App
R(S)
200
a
man
aged
25
had
intervened
when
police
were
trying
to
arrest
his
cousin
following
a
disturbance
in
Leicester,
shouting
racist
abuse
in
the
face
of
an
officer
of
Asian
origin,
including
&dquo;Fuck
off,
Paki&dquo;.
Agreeing
that
a
custodial
sentence
was
justified
on
his
guilty
plea
to
racially
aggravated
harassment
(ie
POA
1986
s4A),
the
Appeal
Court
noted
that
the
offender
had
subsequently
apologised
to
the
officer
and
heeded
his
explanation
that
while
he
had
been
racially
abusive,
his
conduct
had
not
been
racially
motivated
but
arose
out
of
concern
for
his
cousin’s
health
and
safety
because,
unknown
to
the
police,
he
suffered
from
epilepsy.
In
the
circumstances,
sentence
was
reduced
from
nine
to
six
months.
’ ’
’
1
°
8
0 -
§
$
z
Dealing
with
a
man
for
indecent
assault
(by
grabbing
the
woman
victim
in
the
street
at
night
and
attempting
to
pull
down
her
tights),
and
in
the
light
of
his
five
previous
convictions
for
offences
of
this
nature,
a
Crown
Court
judge
imposed
a
term
of
five
years
under
CJA
1991
s2(2)(b)
as
a
longer-than-commensurate
sentence
to
protect
the
public
from
serious
harm.
The
Court
of
Appeal
agreed
that
s2(2)(b)
was
applicable
in
these
circumstances
but
felt
that
the
sentencer
had
paid
insufficient
regard
to
the
fact
that
the
offender,
who
suffered
from
Asperger’s
Syndrome,
had
made
a
voluntary
confession
of
guilt
to
staff
at
the
hostel
where
he
lived,
without
which
he
would
not
have been
detected
for
this
assault.
In
the
circumstances,
it
was
more
appropriate
to
deal
with
him
by
way
of
a
two
year
commensurate
custodial
period
backed
by
a
three
year
extension
period.
Comment:
This
case
illustrates
the
choice
that
faces
courts
when
dealing
with
sexual
or
violent
offenders
who
pose
continuing
risk
to
the
public,
while
seeking
to
reflect
factors
of
culpability
and
mitigation.
Under
the
proposed
s2(2)(b)
sentence,
this
offender
would
have
been
eligible
for
discretionary
release
after
serving
30
months,
with
automatic
release
after
40
months,
and
the
licence
running
for
either
15
or
five
months
until
the
45
month
point.
The
alternative
course
of
an
To continue reading
Request your trial