Source: All England Reporter
Publisher Citation: [2004] All ER (D) 133 (Jul)
Neutral Citation: [2004] EWCA Crim 1762
Court: Court of Appeal, Criminal Division
Judge:

Lord Woolf CJ, Judge LJ, Holland, Astill and Gross JJJ
Representation Patricia Lynch QC and Katherine Moore (assigned by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals) for Sullivan.
  Rex Tedd QC and Sally Hobson (instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service) for the Crown in the case of Sullivan.
  Edward Fitzgerald QC and Paul Taylor (assigned by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals) for Gibbs.
  Nicholas Hilliard QC (instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service) for the Crown in the case of Gibbs.
  Ben Nolan QC and Oliver Jarvis (assigned by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals) for B Elener.
  Gareth Evans QC and Richard Gioserano (assigned by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals) for D Elener.
  Robert Smith QC (instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service) for the Crown in the case of B Elener and D Elener.
Judgment Dates: 8 July 2004

Catchwords

Sentencing - Sentencing principles - Guidelines - Murder - Tariff - Transitional provisions - Account to be taken of practice directions and statutory provisions - Judicial guidance in letter to sentencing judges to be disregarded for offences after date of later practice direction -  22, para 10 - European Convention on Human Rights, arts 5 and 7.

The Case

Practice directions and statutory provisions in the when properly applied, should produce broadly similar results for judges sentencing defendants who had committed murder before the 18 December 2003, and who were therefore subject to the transitional provisions in to para10 of Sch22 to the as for other defendants. However, to avoid prejudice and ensure that a defendant's rights were to be seen to be protected, a letter of the 16 December 2003 from the Lord Chief Justice to judges should not be followed in future where an offence was committed after May 2002.

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