Likely Sentence For Dv Abh And Police Assault At Crown Court?

[shygirl138]

my ex is due for sentence for abh (kicking and punching in the head, then beatin me round the back of my head with a pan causing a nasty head injury)with other witnesses to this and assault of a police officer when in custody. he initially pleaded not guilty at magistrates then on nxt hearing he changed plea to guilty and it has been transferred to crown court. He suffers from mental health issues, but made a choice months earlier to stop taking his meds he so badly needed. he also had a coke n weed addiction that were pretty bad.
There was a similar incident 3 yrs ago where i foolishly dropped charges and he gt NFA.
in 2010 he was tried at crown for affray, for holding a mh worker at knife point.
does anyone know what kind of sentence he is likely to have been on remand for 2 month (In a health care unit of the prison) due sentence in 2 weeks. thanks.

[Buenchico]

The Judge has to consider both 'harm' and 'culpability', to decide whether they should each be classified a 'high' or 'low'. If both are 'high', it's a 'Category 1' offence. If only one is 'high', and the other is 'low', 'it's Category 2'. If both are 'low' it's 'Category 3'.

The use of a weapon and/or kicking someone in the head would normally ensure that 'culpability' is to be regarded as 'high' but a mental disorder might see it treated as 'low'. A sustained assault could see 'harm' regarded as 'high' (as could an injury which was just below the level necessary for a 'GBH' charge).

It's likely that the Judge will regard the offence as (at least) 'Category 2', meaning that he has to work up or down from a 'starting point' sentence of 6 months. A non-custodial sentence would still be possible but a maximum of 51 weeks is also possible. However those sentences apply to a first-time offender, convicted after a trial. If your ex was convicted in 2010 that could push sentencing higher but his fairly early guilty plea this time could see it pushed lower.

The actual document that the Judge must consult is here:
http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/Assault_definitive_guideline_-_Crown_Court.pdf
(See p11, et seq).

The Judge will have access to far more information than I have but I'd guess at a sentence of around 6 months. If so, he'd only have to spend 3 months in prison, meaning that he could be released a few weeks after sentencing.

[New Judge]

Since the Magistrates have seen fit to send the matter to the Crown Court for sentencing they obviously believe their powers (six months custody) are insufficient. So that should be your starting point.

[leahbee]

Shy girl, please make sure that he remains your ex. I wish you well.

[Peter Pedant]

Shy girl he should definitely remain your ex

If he is in the health unit - then the authorities know that he is disturbed and are treating it (his disease). One of my neighbours went off his meds and off his head and we spent weeks trying to get him to take the stuff...

I feel sorry for all parties (and yes the girl-fren' went back to him)