wounding with intent charge

[nessa177]

A friend has been charged with wounding, and wounding with intent to her partner. She has no criminal record and works and is of good character. Do you know of the sentencing she could be faced with?

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

Wounding with intent is an extremely serious charge. It's just one step down from 'attempted murder' and carries the same maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Judges are provided with guideline sentences, which consist of a 'starting point' and a 'range'. The 'starting point' is the sentence that the judge must start with before deciding whether there are factors which mean that the sentence should either be increased or decreased. The 'range' defines the maximum and minimum sentences that he could normally give (unless there were extremely exceptional circumstances).

The table of guideline sentences, used by judges, is based upon sentencing a first time offender who has been found guilty after a trial. An early guilty plea can reduce the sentence by up to a third. Here are the sentences from that table:

For an offence not involving pre-meditation, or the use of a weapon, and not resulting in very serious injury or permanent disfigurement, the starting point is 4 years imprisonment, with a range of 3 to 5 years.

[Buenchico]

If a weapon was used (but which only came to hand at the scene), or the offence was pre-meditated, or very serious injury was caused, or permanent disfigurement resulted, the starting point goes up to 5 years, with a range of 4 to 6 years.

If the offence was pre-meditated and involved the use of a weapon carried to the scene for the purpose, or the victim suffered life-threatening (or very grave) injury, the starting point is 8 years, with a range of 7 to 10 years.

If both of the circumstances from the previous paragraph apply (i.e. a weapon was carried to the scene and the injuries were very grave or life-threatening), the starting point is 13 years, with a range of 10 to 16 years.

So, taking the bottom of the range for the least serious type of this offence, and knocking off a third for an early guilty plea, it's likely that your friend will be sentenced to at least 2 years imprisonment but, if the offence falls into one of the more serious categories, the sentence could be much longer.

Source (Page 13):
http://www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk/docs/a ssault-against-the%20person.pdf

Chris