Source: All England Reporter
Publisher Citation: [2007] All ER (D) 414 (May)
Neutral Citation: [2007] EWCA Crim 50
Court: Court of Appeal, Criminal Division
Judge:

Moses LJ, Gibbs and Griffith-Williams JJ
Representation Vincent Ward (assigned by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals) for the defendant.
Judgment Dates: 19 January 2007

Catchwords

Sentence - Imprisonment - Length of sentence - Indecent assault on a female - Indecency with a child - Defendant abusing step-daughter over six year period until she was 14 years old - Defendant sentenced to ten years' imprisonment - Whether sentence manifestly excessive.

The Case

Sentence Imprisonment. The nature of the defendant's prolonged sexual abuse of his stepdaughter rendered the effect of his previous good character negligible for sentencing purposes. The real question was whether, having regard to the defendant's guilty plea and remorse, the starting point taken by the judge was out of proportion to the totality of the offending. Grave though the offending was, the total sentence of ten years' imprisonment after a guilty plea presupposed a starting point before plea of around 15 years, which would be appropriate to a campaign of rape, but was not appropriate to the instant case. In all the circumstances, the appropriate staring point was 12 years, which gave an appropriate sentence of eight years' imprisonment.

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