In Court
| Date | 01 March 1992 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059203900117 |
| Published date | 01 March 1992 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
51
IN
COURT
Summary
but
Serious
Can
a
summary
offence
be
’so
serious
that
a
non-custodial
sentence
for
it
can-
not
be
justified’
(CJA
1982
sl(4A))?
Yes,
said
the
Court
of
Appeal
in
R v
LEWES
CROWN
COURT
ex parte
CHARLES
(Crim
~R
January
1992),
upholding
sentence
of
3
months
YOI
for
impersonating
a
police
officer.
The
defendent
had
us-
ed
a
flashing
blue
car
light
stolen
from
a
police
checkpoint
to
frighten
and
alarm
two
members
of
the
public
on
two
separate
occasions.
There
is
no
distinction
in
law
between
summary
and
indictable
offences,
and
sentencers
should
deal
with
such
crimes
in
the
normal
way,
considering
the
gravity
of
the
facts
in
the
individual
case.
Probation
Orders
on
Appeal
Successfully
appealing
to
the
Crown
Court
against
a
7
months
YOI
sentence,
a
defendant
there
received
a
probation
order
for
12
months.
When
convicted
three
months
later
of
fresh
offences,
he
was
committed
under
PCCA
1973
s8(6)
to
the
Crown
Court
which
sentenced
him
to
12
months
YOI.
He
appealed.
The
Court
of
Appeal
noted
that,
under
PCCA
1973
s12(2),
where
a
probation
order
is
made
on
appeal,
it
is
deemed
to
have
been
made
by
the
court
from
which
the
appeal
was
brought.
Here
the
magistrates
had
incorrectly
treated
the
probation
order
as
a
Crown
Court
order
and
thus
invalidly
committed
him
to
be
dealt
with
at
the
Crown
Court.
The
sentence
of
12
months
YOI
was
thus
a
nullity
and
had
to
be
quash-
ed.
R v
WALTHAM
FOREST
MAGISTRATES
COURT
cx
parte
BREWER
(Crim
LR
January
1992)
Juvenile
Robbery
A
youth
aged
16
and
his
co-offender
had
approached
two
boys
of
their
own
age
and
demanded
money,
under
threat
of
a
beating
up.
They
obtained
£3.50
from
one
and
50
pence
from
the
other.
On
pleading
guilty
to
robbery
on
this
and
another
similar
occasion,
with
7
attempted
such
robberies
taken
into
consideration,
he
received
8
months
YOI.
On
his
appeal
against
the
length
of
sentence
but
not
against
custody
in
principle,
the
Court
of
Appeal upheld
the
term,
implying
that
the
’so
serious’
criterion
was
satisfied:
R
PRETTY
Crim
LR
January
1992.
In
the
light
of
this,
can
any
robbery
every
be
regard-
ed
as
insufficiently
serious
for
a
custodial
sentence?
Taking
child
to
live
abroad
If
a
family
court
is
asked
to
approve
a
residence
parent’s
proposal
to
take
their
child
to
live
in
another
country,
leave
should
be
refused
only
if
the
move
would
be
against
the
child’s
in-
terests
but,
in
carrying
out
the
balanc-
ing
exercise,
the
court
needs
to
take
into
account
the
contact
parent’s
fear
of
losing
touch
with
the
child,
in
this
case
because
of
his
inability
to
pay
travel
costs
to
France
and
his
fear
that
the
mother
would
then
be
able
to
in-
doctrinate
the
child
against
the
father.
RE
M
The
Times
December
11
1991.
Involuntary
Manslaughter
Giving
a
guideline
judgement
on
sentencing
for
involuntary
man-
slaughter
where
the
victim
dies
after
a
blow
intended
to
be
non-fatal,
eg
by
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