Peter Raffan v. Her Majesty's Advocate [2009] HCJAC 8

Criminal Note of Appeal Against Sentence:- On 18 January 2007 at a continued preliminary hearing at Edinburgh High Court the appellant pled guilty to a charge of culpable homicide. The appellant was sentenced to eight years imprisonment and an extended period of five years. The appellant appealed against the custodioal element of the sentence. The sentencing judge had stated that had the appellant been convicted after trial the custodial part of the sentence would have been "at least ten years". At appeal it was submitted on behalf of the appellant that the sentencing judge ought to have indicated a definite starting point for the sentence before the application of any discount and failing to do so precluded the appellant from understanding the starting point selected by the sentencing judge or the amount of discount afforded to the appellant in respect of the early guilty plea. Here the court considered whether it was necessary to identify a determinate sentence as a starting point before a specific discount can be applied. The court also considered whether a discount of twenty percent was sufficient in light of the appellant's apparent willingness to plead prior to the service of the indictment, albeit section 76 procedure was not utilised.