Mohammed Arshad v. Her Majesty's Advocate [2006] HCJAC 57

On 6 November 2003 at the High Court in Edinburgh the appellant was convicted of a charge of breach of the peace and a charge of incitement to murder. The charge of breach of the peace involved the uttering of threats against the appellant's son-in-law, Abdullah Yaseen, and members of his family. On 4 December 2003 the appellant was sentenced to seven years imprisonment from 6 November 2003. The appellant appealed against conviction and sentence. On 8 March 2006 the appeal against conviction was refused, and the case was continued to enable the appeal against sentence to be considered. The grounds of appeal stated:- "The sentence imposed was excessive. In selecting the sentence it is submitted that the trial judge failed to give adequate weight to: (a) the appellant's previous good character and his personal circumstances (b) the attitude of both complainers (c) the appellant's state of health at the time of the commission of the offences." The court here considered whether the sentencing judge erred in selecting a period of seven years imprisonment as the appropriate punishment for the appellant's crimes.