Thursday, February 25, 2016

Exemplary

The official websites are giving increasing prominence to judges' sentencing remarks in complex cases, or those that cause public concern. In a recent judgment, DJ Deborah Wright (whom I know well as our sittings often overlap) sentenced the protesters who blocked off a Heathrow runway   to show how cross they are about the proposed new Northern runway.

Her remarks are Here and I think that she did a good job.

6 comments:

  1. I get the Courts and Judiciary mails for these and they are often great read, regardless of the court that it is sitting in.

    I read this yesterday as soon as it was posted and found her remarks well thought out. From start to the middle I thought she was going to give them a community order but in reading the middle to the end I thought she was going to give them 12-16 weeks custody. I was surprised she gave them suspended sentences after referring to Lord Hoffman. I was surprised she went for the suspended sentences in the end.

    I was also surprised she sentenced them as one and didnt take their antecedents into account apart from the CS. I thought one or two could have gone.

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    1. This is a great example of reasoned thinking, something which all magistrates should read and learn from. DJ Wright reached what to my mind was a fair and just sentence in view of the huge impact - 92,000 people affected, not to mention tieing up precious police and emergency resources whilst they were dealt with. They now know that if they go and do it again, the custody sentence will be activated. They also now have the burden - particularly the defendant who frequently travels to the USA - of having a custodial criminal record, which will greatly affect their chances of visiting the United States, Australia and other countries.

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  2. Wise sentencing but, and it a very real but...........many CC Judges do not activate suspended sentences even, as in one recent case, where the current offence is identical to and of equal seriousness, to that which led to the suspended sentence.

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  3. Carefully reasoned sentences. Of course one could disagree with the conclusion. I was getting it to 4 weeks rather than 6; BUT I would not have suspended. I would have sent them down. It clearly passes the custody threshold and I do not see enough in their alleged sincerity to keep them out of prison.

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    1. I think she explained well why that would achieve little. Suspending means they will have to think carefully before any other protest for the whole year, rather than be off the hook in a fortnight (having served half your four weeks). Suspending on its own seems to be a get off, but suspending alongside community orders I like.

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  4. The starting point is that a suspended sentence will be activated. Reasons must be given, if not activated, why it is not in the interests of justice to do so. Only those in possession of all the facts will know why it wasn't done but there could be many reasons, and here I mention just one.

    Defendant got a four week sentence suspended for twelve months, plus 120 hours of unpaid work, which they completed without any issues. They then commit the same offence eleven months, three weeks and a half weeks into the period of suspension. They are the sole carer for a terminally ill parent and the sole carer of a child. Another suspended plus a significantly higher number of hours of unpaid work may well be appropriate.

    Every case is different and not activating a suspended may well be the right decision.

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