The defendant appealed against his sentence to life imprisonment after conviction for manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Held: The court faced two questions. Did the case require a sentence of life imprisonment, and also what minimum term should be set. Even for manslaughter a life sentence could be appropriate. The attack had been of extreme ferocity. The sentence was driven by the public protection provisions. In this case the minimum period applicable was thirteen years.
As to the 2003 Act: ‘There is no express statutory link between the guidance in schedule 21 of the 2003 Act and the principles to be applied to sentencing decisions in diminished responsibility manslaughter . . accordingly when the sentencing court is assessing the seriousness of the offence with a view to fixing the minimum term, we can discern no logical reason why, subject to the specific element of reduced culpability inherent in the offence, the assessment of the seriousness of the instant offence of diminished responsibility manslaughter should ignore the guidance. Indeed we suggest that the link is plain’ and ‘Parliament’s intention it seems is clear: crimes which result in death should be treated more seriously and dealt with more severely than before.’
Lord Judge, Lord Chief Justice, Lord Justice Aikens, Mr Justice Mackay, Mr Justice Christopher Clarke and Mr Justice Holroyde
[2009] EWCA Crim 651, [2009] Crim LR 543, [2010] 1 Cr App Rep (S) 2
Bailii, Times
Criminal Justice Act 2003 269
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Chambers CACD 1983
The court set out the various options for sentencing in cases of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. Though a hospital order may be appropriate if recommended by a psychiatric report and justified, where the defendant constituted a . .
See Also – Wood, Regina v (No 1) CACD 20-Jun-2008
The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder, saying that he suffered from alcohol dependency syndrome, and that this amounted to a diminished responsibility.
Held: The appeal succeeded and and a conviction for manslaughter was . .
Cited – Regina v Bryan CACD 2006
. .
Cited by:
Cited – Appleby, Regina v (Attorney-General’s Reference (No 60 of 2009) CACD 18-Dec-2009
applebyCACD2009
Each defendant had been convicted of an assault resulting in a death, but where no weapon had been used and where but for the death the charge would have been assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Held: The decision in Furby, while still . .
Cited – Fort, Regina v CACD 13-Dec-2013
The defendant had been found guilty of manslaughter by virtue of diminished responsibility. He had been 17, and a technically incorrect sentence of life imprisonment had been passed. There had been conflicting diagnoses of his condition between . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 03 August 2021; Ref: scu.329553
