18 Jun 2025
The Court held the overall sentence of 4 years' imprisonment was not manifestly excessive given the appellant's persistent and serious offending, the reasonableness of the starting points for vehicle theft, the distinctness of the offences justifying some consecutive elements and the appellant's appalling prior record which justified enhancement; the appeal against sentence was dismissed.
23 Aug 2024
On conviction: where accomplices have pleaded guilty and then given evidence, the cautionary direction in Specimen Direction 109 suffices and there is no obligation to give a Specimen Direction 116-style warning; leave to appeal and appeal against conviction refused and dismissed. On sentence: the original 20-year starting point (enhanced to 22) was manifestly excessive; applying Herry Jane Yusuph the Court adopted a 15-year starting point for the sizeable conspiracy and enhanced it for three aggravating features (use of minors +3 years, multiplicity of drugs +1 year, prior trafficking convic…