Emily Jermin successful in the Court of Appeal

Emily Jermin, instructed by Humphrys Dawson Solicitors, represented a man who had been found ‘dangerous’ and sentenced to a term of 7 years’ custody with an extended licence period of 2 years. 

 

The appeal concerned offences committed over the course of several months at HMP Parc. The appellant was sentenced for the offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, causing a perforated eardrum and two offences of assault by beating against prison officers. The appellant was also sentenced for the offences of threatening to kill one of the aforementioned prison officers and false imprisonment of a cellmate.

 

Emily appealed the sentence on the basis that the Judge erred in law in failing to attach a single notional term of 4 years’ custody to one of the three sentences ordered to run consecutively. 

 

Emily also appealed on the basis that the Judge took too high a starting point for the offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, that being 3 years’ custody, thus causing the sentence to be manifestly excessive.

 

Emily successfully appealed on both grounds. The Court of Appeal restructured the sentence, identifying false imprisonment as the lead offence and ordering all other sentences to run concurrently. 

 

The court reduced the sentence for assault occasioning actual bodily harm from 27 months’ custody to 18 months’ custody. 

 

The overall effect was a reduction of the custodial part of the sentence from 7 years’ custody to 5 years’ custody.