Month: May 2022

R v PC [2022] EWCA Crim 542

Instructed for the Appellant, Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, reported as follows:

This appeal against sentence raises the question of whether or not an extended sentence under s. 279 SA 2020 can be passed on an offence that is specified for the purpose of s. 306 in circumstances where the four-year term condition prescribed in s. 280 is met only by taking into account offending on associated offences that are not so specified. It is an issue on which there appears to be conflicting appellate authority. The point is one of real significance. Many cases involve offending arising out of a combination of specified and unspecified offences. Judges need to know what offences can and cannot be taken into account for the purpose of identifying whether or not the appropriate custodial term would be at least four years long.

Held: In so far as Casbolt is to be understood as suggesting that a court, when passing a sentence on a specified offence, cannot take into account by way of aggregation an associated (though unspecified) offence for the purpose of identifying the appropriate custodial term in s. 280, it is wrong. Pinnell/Joyce remains good law. The court when arriving at the appropriate custodial term can aggregate with a specified offence non-specified associated offences so as to reflect the defendant’s overall offending, subject always to the custodial term imposed on the specified offence not exceeding the statutory maximum and not infringing the principle of totality.

 

An Old Bailey jury heard how Ricky Morgan, of no fixed address, launched an unprovoked attack on a stranger on the Jubilee Line train last July.  The victim, James Porritt, suffered severe injuries to his hand, head and shin.  The defendant denied attempted murder on the grounds of insanity.  He was convicted of the offence and also found guilty of two counts of possessing bladed articles.  He will be sentenced on 22nd July 2022.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61526936

Between June 2019 and June 2020 the gang targeted cashpoints across the south of England using explosive gases and flammable liquids.  They also stole high-value trophies from the National Horse Racing Museum at Newmarket Racecourse, and farm machinery including £400,000 worth of tractors in one night in Cassington, Oxfordshire.  The sentences of imprisonment imposed by His Honour Judge Michael Gledhill QC at Oxford Crown Court ranged from 3 years and four months to 17 years and four months.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-61506692

Prashanth Kandhaiah, is accused of confronting two Ministry of Defence police officers in April 2022.  He allegedly tried to stab one of the officers, before being tasered and restrained.  The defendant, who takes medication for schizophrenia, was remanded in custody and his trial is set for 17th October 2022 at Southwark Crown Court.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10730981/Alleged-knifeman-accused-charging-police-officers-Horse-Guards-Parade-appear-court.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61146992

We are deeply saddened to hear that James Britton has passed away. Jim was a much-loved member of 2KBW for nearly 20 years before his appointment as a District Judge on the Western Circuit in 2016, since when he remained a good friend of many in chambers.

District Judge – Death in Service: Britton | Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Grace Ong attended the conference on 14 May 2022 and was a panelist together with four others on an interactive workshop hosted by Baljit Ubhey OBE, Director of Policy & CPS Race and Ethnicity Champion, talking about her experiences at the Bar and giving advice to Crown Prosecutors about addressing and eradicating racial bias in the criminal justice system.

https://www.nbcpa.org.uk/

Patrick Anzy was shot three times with a MAC11 machine gun at Gillett Square in Dalston, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Suki Dhadda, led by Paul Cavin QC, prosecuted.  Following a trial lasting 8 weeks at Southwark Crown Court, Jermaine Jackson was convicted of his murder, and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.  Oshane Hartley was convicted of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and Mohamed Abrar was convicted of assisting an offender.  All three will be sentenced on 24 June 2022.

https://news.met.police.uk/news/man-guilty-of-murdering-patrick-anzy-in-dalston-447852

https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/crime/men-convicted-for-dalston-murder-8963598

A business consultant, James Porritt, was travelling on the Jubilee Line in Central London last July when Ricky Morgan allegedly launched the attack in front of screaming passengers, swinging the machete at Mr Porritt’s head, right hand and shin.

Morgan, of no fixed address, is on trial for attempted murder and two charges of having an article with a blade or point.  The trial continues.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61227111

Lewis Brown knifed Lee Butler in the chest after a drug deal in Oxford in 2021.  The court heard Brown was a known crack cocaine and heroin dealer who habitually carried a knife and took a hunting-type weapon from the waistband of his trousers before he stabbed the Mr Butler.  The weapon has never been found.

Rob Harding, junior to Charles Ward-Jackson, prosecuted.  Following a trial before His Honour Judge Ian Pringle QC, Brown was convicted of manslaughter and possessing a knife.  He was jailed for 10-and-a-half years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-61306419