In Court
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059604300317 |
| Date | 01 September 1996 |
| Published date | 01 September 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
1.
A medical condition which might at
some
unidentified future date affect either life
expectancy or the Prison Service’s ability to
treat the prisoner satisfactorily might prompt
the Home Secretary’s power of release on
compassionate grounds but does not demand
reduction of an otherwise appropriate
sentence.
2.
The fact that the defendant is HIV
A
defendant facing a custodial sentence is
s
positive or has a reduced life expectancy
liable
should not affect sentence.
to serve that sentence in segregation
on
Rule 43 or for some other reason will
3.
A
serious medical condition, even when
find imprisonment difficult to cope with.
difficult to treat in prison, does not entitle the
Should this be taken into account in
defendant to a lesser sentence.
determining sentence? No, said the Court
of Appeal
4.
A
in R
defendant’s serious medical condition
v PARKER Crim LR
June
1996, though an exception may need to be
may nevertheless enable a court to impose a
made in
lesser than otherwise
exceptional circumstances
appropriate sentence,
involving
as an act of
an unusually vulnerable offender.
mercy in the exceptional
circumstances of the particular case.
emcm=
In this instance, an act of mercy was
j
appropriate and sentence was accordingly
reduced to three and a half years,
Where
recognising also that the judge had used
a fine is imposed after the defendant
has
too
spent time in custody
high a starting point for the amount of
on remand, the
cannabis involved (27.7
amount of the fine should be scaled down
kg). R v BERNARD,
The Times 2
to allow credit for the remand time, given
July 1996.
that this time will not be credited towards
any subsequent period of imprisonment for
mmmom
j ,
non-payment. Thus a fine of ~2,000 (for
Ilr.
supplying cannabis) was reduced to ~1,000
to reflect the 14 days spent on custodial
For serious dwelling house burglary where
remand. The extent of credit is at the
the property was unoccupied, the
sentencer’s discretion. R v...
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