[2025] EWCA Crim 1237

The facts can be taken from the Final Reference which sets them out in summary and then in more detail. For present purposes, the summary will suffice.

Having been sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment suspended for two years on 25 February 2022, the offender went on to commit 11 offences during the currency of that suspended sentence order. Those offences related to three arrests between 7 March 2022 and 7 May 2023. The offender was committed to the Crown Court for sentence in relation to each of those offences.

On 7 March 2022, the offender refused to provide a blood specimen, having been found by police intoxicated with drugs behind the wheel of a car.

On 27 May 2022, the offender was stopped in a car. His 3 year old grandson was in the back of the car without a car seat or booster seat. 11 wraps of synthetic cannabinoids of Class B were found in the car door pocket. Scales, £120 cash and a small amount of cannabis were also found in the car. A mobile phone was next to the driver's seat which was receiving text messages. The offender became abusive to police on arrest. He provided a blood sample at the police station and was found to be over the prescribed driving limit for THC (a derivative of cannabis) and BZE (a derivative of cocaine).

When police opened the offender's phone, there was evidence of being concerned in the supply of cocaine (messages in relation to money owed for cocaine previously supplied) and production of cannabis (photographs of cannabis plants with messages discussing the yield of sale of the product).

As a result of that arrest, the following charges followed: two offences of driving a motor vehicle over the prescribed limit for drugs (summary only); driving a motor vehicle with a child passenger not in a car seat or booster seat (again summary only); section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986 (using abusive language towards the police on arrest); being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug (cocaine, relating to messages on the phone); two charges of possessing a controlled drug of Class B with intent to supply (a reference to the two types of synthetic cannabinoid of Class B found in the 11 wraps in the car); production of a controlled drug of Class B (relating to the photographs of cannabis plants seen on his phone); and possession of a controlled drug of Class B (cannabis found in the car, for personal use).

On 7 May 2023, the offender was seen on CCTV assisting another in the shoplifting of cleaning products worth £40 from a shop.

Significantly, as will become apparent in the course of this judgment, on 22 September 2023, the offender himself was the victim of a serious assault, during which he was stabbed seven times. During this incident, he was stabbed in the eye. He also suffered significant skull fractures which left him with some disabilities. Since the attack, he has given a statement to police and is supporting the prosecution of his attackers. He is the complainant and a witness in a forthcoming trial for attempted murder. The trial is due to take place in 2026.

One further offence was committed after the assault. A Restraining Order was placed on the offender on 30 August 2023, preventing him from attending his ex-partner's address (although contact between them was not prohibited). On 6 August 2024, three weeks prior to the expiry of the Restraining Order, a neighbour contacted police as the offender was banging on the door of that address. He was arrested nearby.

On 20 June 2025, as we have mentioned, the offender was sentenced in the way that we have outlined. We will return to that, as we have said, in greater detail later.

In the Crown Court, on 19 February 2025, an indication was sought as to sentence in respect of counts 1 to 4 on the drugs indictment in accordance with R v Goodyear [2005] 2 Cr App R 20. In giving that indication, His Honour Judge Levett indicated that he would not apply the minimum term on the basis that no drugs had been recovered; that in the intervening period the offender had been stabbed, including in the eye, which had resulted in severe ill-health; and that there had been a 12 year gap between his last drug trafficking offence and the triggering offence in count 1. Further, the judge indicated that due to the way in which count 1 had been indicted, covering a single date, there was not a significant role on that day and the judge would consider the offender as having a lesser role. The judge stated that the imposition of the seven year minimum term would therefore be disproportionate and there were exceptional circumstances. The judge added that the case of R v Clarke (Jewell) [2024] EWCA Crim 1555; [2025] 1 Cr App R (S) 44 had been considered and the lapse of time (12 years) between the drugs offences, the strong personal mitigation and realistic prospect of rehabilitation and the significant impact of custody on the offender had all been considered.

After the indication was given, the offender was re-arraigned and entered guilty pleas on counts 1 to 4 on the drugs indictment. The case was adjourned to 20 June 2025 for sentence, and the court ordered a pre-sentence report to consider GPS monitoring.