In court
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| DOI | 10.1177/02645505211066356 |
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Subject Matter | In Court |
In court
Nigel Stone, Visiting Fellow in the School of Psychology, University of East Anglia,
reviews recent appeal judgments and other judicial developments that inform senten-
cing and early release.
Intimate relationship violence
Vulnerable young woman’s threat to kill; Judge’s misjudgment
Aged 18, without prior convictions and living with her new partner (T.), B. had just
received a message that another young woman (S.) was pregnant by him and con-
fronted him. When he denied any knowledge of S. she put her arm round his throat
from behind as he sat on a sofa, holding a substantial kitchen knife to his chest for a
sustained period while telling him that she wanted to kill him and then herself. When
she had let go of him T. called the police; she told the officers what she had done.
Following her guilty plea to making threat to kill, a PSR (pre-sentence report)
described her as ‘child-like’, vulnerable and presenting as younger than her age,
proposing a community order with a rehabilitative activity requirement to address
her thinking skills and developmental maturation needs. A psychiatric report simi-
larly noted her ‘developmental delay’, impulsivity and learning difficulties, and
her history of anxiety and depression, in tandem with ASD (autism spectrum dis-
order) and ADHD.
Agreeing that this was ‘a very sad case’, the judge observed that B. was ‘incap-
able of controlling her anger’. Application of the relevant Guideline (Intimidatory
Offences, 2018) indicated higher culpability (Level A) (given the presence of a
visible weapon and an offence in the victim’s home) and harm at Level 2 (distress
and psychological harm short of very serious and significant –T. had submitted a
victim statement attesting to the flashbacks he was experiencing), thus indicating
a starting point of 24 months’custody with a range between 12 and 48 months.
Adopting that starting point and giving full credit for plea, the judge imposed 16
months’YOI detention, remarking that if the defendant had been a man and his
victim a woman, there would be an outcry were he not to impose a sentence of imme-
diate custody.
The Journal of Communit
y
and Criminal Justice
Probation Journal
2022, Vol. 69(1) 119–132
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/02645505211066356
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