AG -v- Passman [2011] JRC 162 (19 August 2011)

JUDGMENT THE BAILIFF: 1. This must have been a frightening incident for these two girls and I hope that you are ashamed of what you put them through. In addition your reckless driving that evening put other road users at risk and it is really very fortunate that you did not kill or injure someone. It was a very bad piece of dangerous driving. You have a poor record as we have heard and you thoroughly deserve the prison sentence for which the Crown has moved and it is the right length of sentence in every respect.

2. But what your Advocate has said, supported by the reports, is that this is a final opportunity for you; that you have had a very troubled childhood, which we fully accept, and you have some difficult issues to confront. What is said in the reports is that you would benefit from assistance in trying to confront these problems and you have not had an opportunity since 2005 when you were placed on probation but you were of course very much younger at that time. In addition we take into account that you have already been in prison for the equivalent of a 6 month sentence, so you have already been punished.

3. The Court has found this a very difficult decision. As we have already said, you deserve to go to prison. But the Court has decided, after careful thought, to take a chance and we hope that you are going to repay the trust which the Court has shown in you and the opportunity which you have been given.

4. So we are going to take the recommendation of the Probation Service. We are going to impose a Probation Order for 2 years but you must also be punished and we are going to give you the full community service, not making any deductions for the time you have spent on remand. So you will serve a total community service of 180 hours. I am now going to break them down, but they are all concurrent. On Count 2; 90 hours, on Count 3; 180 hours, on Count 4; 150 hours and on the Second Indictment; 60 hours, all of those to be concurrent. In relation to the driving without a licence, we are going to impose a fine, hopefully you will find employment, and we fine you £100 which is less than the Crown asked for, or 2 weeks imprisonment in default. It should not be out of your reach if you can find employment and we give you 2 months in which to pay that. You are also going to be disqualified from driving for 3 years.

5. Now I want to make certain things clear to you Mr Passman. This is a very considerable opportunity and you are fortunate that the Court is taking this stance but if you do not do the community service, or if you do not turn up to the Probation Service and do exactly what they tell you and play a full part in all the courses that they want you to do and generally do as they say, or if you re-offend, if any of those things happen you will brought back here and I think you can guess what will happen if you are brought back here. There will then really be no alternative but to prison. So we hope very much that you will take advantage of this opportunity. That is the sentence of the Court. Authorities AG-v-Wheadon [2008] JRC 042 . AG-v-Picot [2008] JRC 158. Page Last Updated: 18 Aug 2016 BAILII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback | Donate to BAILII