R v Azam
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Neutral Citation | [2023] EWCA Crim 1398 |
| Year | 2023 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) |
2023 Nov 8
Crime - Sentence - Drugs - Defendant convicted of possession of drugs of class A with intent to supply - Whether purity of drugs relevant to sentencing exercise
The defendant was convicted on two counts of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply, contrary to section 5(3) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. On the first count, which related to just over one kilogram of cocaine of 82% purity, he was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment. On the second count, which related to 15 small wraps of heroin of low purity, a concurrent sentence of five years’ imprisonment was passed. The defendant applied for an extension of time for leave to appeal against sentence and for leave to appeal on the ground that the sentencing judge had had no proper basis for deciding that he had a leading role in the supply of prohibited drugs and, in particular, that the judge had wrongly had regard to the high purity of the cocaine.
On the application—
Held, dismissing the application, that although the current version of the Sentencing Guidelines no longer expressly identified high purity as an aggravating factor, nor low purity as a mitigating factor, for the purposes of sentencing, it was not the case that the court could not have regard to the high purity of the drugs involved in assessing the role of the defender in drug-related criminality; that, consistent with authority, an inference might be drawn that offenders who dealt with drugs of high purity were closer to the centre of operations than those who dealt with drugs which had been diluted for street use; that, thus, the judge in the present case had been entitled to exercise his discretion in the way that he did; and that, accordingly, the application for an extension of time for leave to appeal against sentence would be refused (post, paras 7–14).
APPLICATION for extension of time and for leave to appeal against sentence
On 31 March 2023, in the Crown Court at Wolverhampton before Mr Recorder Wigoder and a jury, the applicant, Fehzaan Azam, was convicted on a count of possessing a class A drug with intent to supply, namely cocaine, and on a count of possessing diamorphine, each count contrary to section 5(3) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. He was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment on the first count and to five years’ imprisonment, to be served concurrently, on the second count. He applied for an extension of time for leave to appeal against sentence and for leave to appeal on the ground that the sentencing judge had had no proper basis for deciding that he had a leading role in the supply of prohibited drugs and, in particular, that the judge had wrongly had regard to the high purity of the cocaine.
The facts are stated in the judgment of the court, post, para 6.
Devon Small (instructed directly) for the defendant.
The court took time for consideration.
8 November 2023. FOSTER J delivered the following judgment of the court.
1 On 31 March 2023, in the Crown Court at Wolverhampton, the applicant was convicted of one count of possessing a class A controlled with intent to supply, namely cocaine, contrary to section 5(3) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and sentenced...
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