Description
Crown appeal against sentence:- On 2 September 2013 at the High Court at Glasgow the respondent pled guilty at a preliminary hearing to a charge of murder. He was sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment with the punishment part fixed at 9 years and 9 months, which had been discounted from 13 years on account of the plea at the first preliminary hearing. The Crown appealed against the sentence imposed as being unduly lenient in relation to the starting off point of 13 years together with the discount applied. The murderous attack was described as brutal and sustained and it was further submitted on behalf of the Crown that the guidance in relation to discounts for murder cases contained in HMA v Boyle 2010 JC 66 had not been followed in that in such cases the maximum discount should be one-sixth reducing in some cases to nil. On behalf of the respondent it was accepted that the sentencing judge had misdirected himself in relation to the level of discount applied. However, in relation to the starting point of 13 years it was submitted that it was not a case with any unusually aggravating features and the sentencing judge had taken into account all of the circumstances and could not be criticised. Here the court upheld the appeal stating that the sentence imposed was unduly lenient. The court considered the sentence to be imposed anew and noted that whilst the murder did not involve any form of weapon it was a sustained attack over a period of some time and was of a particularly brutal and vicious nature. The court considered that the culpability involved must be regarded as at least the equivalent of that in many cases which have involved the use of a bladed weapon and set the starting off point as 17 years which was reduced to 14 years and 6 months on account of the plea of guilty.
0141 553 4890
