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sentencing for gbh without intent
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hi. a family member is at crown court soon for the above . he has no previous convictions and has a good work history and brilliant references to hand in also. the worrying part for everyone is whether he will get a custodial sentence. the solicitor has all the details and the probation office has done the pre sentence report. also does the judge have a meeting prior to the court date to discuss the case as some people say this happens? any advice would be very much appreciated. thanks, and is it common not to see the barrister till the day of the court hearing please?
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It's all too common not to see a barrister until the day of the hearing. As the family member you refer to is obviously pleading guilty, that might not be too important.
The judge may well read the pre-sentence report prior to the day of the hearing. He can also seek direct representations from, for example, the Crown Prosecution Service. If he did so, your family member's solicitor should be present.
When considering sentencing, the judge is given a 'starting point' and a range within which the actual sentence should fall (unless there are extremely exceptional circumstances). You can read the document which the judge will refer to, here:
http://www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk/docs/a ssault-against-the%20person.pdf
The most important part of that document is the table on page 15. However, you should note that the sentences referred to there relate to first time offenders convicted after a trial. An early guilty plea should result in those sentences being skewed downwards.
Looking at that document, you'll see that there's a reasonable chance of a non-custodial sentence if the following three conditions are met:
1. No pre-meditation involved in the assault ;
2. No weapon used ;
3. No 'grave' injuries.
Otherwise a custodial sentence would seem to be almost inevitable. (Even if those conditions are all met, it would still be wise for the family member to pack a bag when he attends court. He should keep hold of it or, if that's not possible, hand it to a court official or security guard. If he gives it to his solicitor or a family member, it won't be possible to get it to him in the cells if he's 'sent down').
Chris
It's all too common not to see a barrister until the day of the hearing. As the family member you refer to is obviously pleading guilty, that might not be too important.
The judge may well read the pre-sentence report prior to the day of the hearing. He can also seek direct representations from, for example, the Crown Prosecution Service. If he did so, your family member's solicitor should be present.
When considering sentencing, the judge is given a 'starting point' and a range within which the actual sentence should fall (unless there are extremely exceptional circumstances). You can read the document which the judge will refer to, here:
http://www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk/docs/a ssault-against-the%20person.pdf
The most important part of that document is the table on page 15. However, you should note that the sentences referred to there relate to first time offenders convicted after a trial. An early guilty plea should result in those sentences being skewed downwards.
Looking at that document, you'll see that there's a reasonable chance of a non-custodial sentence if the following three conditions are met:
1. No pre-meditation involved in the assault ;
2. No weapon used ;
3. No 'grave' injuries.
Otherwise a custodial sentence would seem to be almost inevitable. (Even if those conditions are all met, it would still be wise for the family member to pack a bag when he attends court. He should keep hold of it or, if that's not possible, hand it to a court official or security guard. If he gives it to his solicitor or a family member, it won't be possible to get it to him in the cells if he's 'sent down').
Chris
Hi I got convicted of GBH Section 20 (GBH without intent) in 2007 and like your family member had no previous convictions and exceptional references from university/retired police officer/headmistress/doctor etc .... and I broke a policemans jaw (he was in plain clothes and I had no idea he was a copper) - and i got a 12 month sentence suspended for 12 months, 250hrs unpaid work and a �2k fine. And i considered myself VERY lucky.
You have to make sure your family member see's his barrsiter as soon as possible it is utterly ridiculous that he might wait until the day - i cannot stress this enough as after all the barrister is the guy who argues the case for your family member to the judge. I plead guilty to my charges because i could not risk going to a trial and losing. I was told with a guilty plea i would have a 90% chance of staying out of prison and thankfully I did. If I had been found guilty after a trial I would have got 18months at least. You have to view it as a damage limitation exercise and weigh up whether its worth pleading guilty even if he thinks he isnt. I didnt mean to hit that copper he raised his arm to my face and i thought i was going to get lamped - so i genuinely thought i was defending myself - however the thought of going to prison far outweighed 'the truth' being told so i cut my losses and pled guilty.
Even if your relation has pled guilty there will still be an opportunity for his barrister to discuss mitigating circumstances (such as previous good character etc) which can minimise the punishment. My barrister spoke for nearly 30 minutes at my sentencing hearing even though there was no jury as i had already pled guilty. The reason he did this is because i had met with him TWICE prior to the court date so he could learn as much about me as possible and therefore give the best impression of me in court.
You have to make sure your family member see's his barrsiter as soon as possible it is utterly ridiculous that he might wait until the day - i cannot stress this enough as after all the barrister is the guy who argues the case for your family member to the judge. I plead guilty to my charges because i could not risk going to a trial and losing. I was told with a guilty plea i would have a 90% chance of staying out of prison and thankfully I did. If I had been found guilty after a trial I would have got 18months at least. You have to view it as a damage limitation exercise and weigh up whether its worth pleading guilty even if he thinks he isnt. I didnt mean to hit that copper he raised his arm to my face and i thought i was going to get lamped - so i genuinely thought i was defending myself - however the thought of going to prison far outweighed 'the truth' being told so i cut my losses and pled guilty.
Even if your relation has pled guilty there will still be an opportunity for his barrister to discuss mitigating circumstances (such as previous good character etc) which can minimise the punishment. My barrister spoke for nearly 30 minutes at my sentencing hearing even though there was no jury as i had already pled guilty. The reason he did this is because i had met with him TWICE prior to the court date so he could learn as much about me as possible and therefore give the best impression of me in court.
sorry just read he pled guilty - this will go in his favour massively however it cant guarantee a non-custodial sentence.
Meet the barrister - what do you have to lose? The reason i stayed out of prison is because of all the work i put in prior to my sentencing hearing. Cover as much ground as you can before the date - you may live to regret it. Barristers dont choose whether or not they see you - you INSTRUCT THEM what to do on your behalf.
I can only speak from experience - i thought i was going down because in the cold light of day i smashed a coppers jaw in. I can only say that if your relations case doesnt involve 'aggrevating factors' - ie. he hit a woman/gay/ethnic minority/copper then as a first offence he would be very unlucky to go down.
Thats in my opinion of course ... if he's owned up from day one he deserves credit and hopefully the court will give him it.
Good luck!
Meet the barrister - what do you have to lose? The reason i stayed out of prison is because of all the work i put in prior to my sentencing hearing. Cover as much ground as you can before the date - you may live to regret it. Barristers dont choose whether or not they see you - you INSTRUCT THEM what to do on your behalf.
I can only speak from experience - i thought i was going down because in the cold light of day i smashed a coppers jaw in. I can only say that if your relations case doesnt involve 'aggrevating factors' - ie. he hit a woman/gay/ethnic minority/copper then as a first offence he would be very unlucky to go down.
Thats in my opinion of course ... if he's owned up from day one he deserves credit and hopefully the court will give him it.
Good luck!
Westyorksman - it's all very well giving instructions that you want to see the barrister beforehand and great if you are privately paying, in which case, no problem. However, if you are on legal aid, (which is administered by the local Crown Court office under the Graduated fees scheme), legal aid will generally not pay for a conference beforehand unless the solicitor can persuade them it is is necessary. Excellent advice, but the reality is most barristers just instructed to deal with a sentencing hearing will be on a fixed fee. It all depends at what point the guilty plea is entered. you were exceptionally lucky to have been able to meet up beforehand. Still as you say, worth a try!
hi. thanks to you all for the advice especiall from personal views. sadly the case is tomorrow so too late to see a barrister and it is under legal aid from what im aware. he pleaded guilty as soon as he went to the police station. he has excellent references both work and recreational so we can only hope that this goes in his favour. even a letter of remorse has been written as it was advised he do so. we would be more than happy with a massive fine etc rather than prison. i can understand the severity of it all and if he was the type who gets a buzz out of this type of thing i myself would even agreee to custodial, but he's not that type of person. like you said there is no jury at all due to guilty plea etc. please keep fingers x we need it. ive never felt so stressed in all my life, all of us are. once again many thx for the advice
hi. for anyone out there who is in similar circs to what has been discussed here i hope that they never have to go through what we did yesterday. fighting is not the answer at all as the stress it causes for everyone involved is just not worth it. luckily for my family member he got off light to say the least. tagging and a hefty fine were the sentence he got ti could of been alot worse.
the whole procedure is a very frightening one to say the least. what ever advice is given above i wholly support. look the part on the day, get as much support and advice as possible references the lot as you will need it. i saw other unlukcy people who never made it out of court got sent down and to see them being taken away with hand cuffs on is most upsetting. please if you are in trouble have some remorse show it and express it verbally and dont get into trouble its just not worth the stress and upset. thx again to everyone for their advice and i am lucky im sat here saying that he did not get sent to prison.
the whole procedure is a very frightening one to say the least. what ever advice is given above i wholly support. look the part on the day, get as much support and advice as possible references the lot as you will need it. i saw other unlukcy people who never made it out of court got sent down and to see them being taken away with hand cuffs on is most upsetting. please if you are in trouble have some remorse show it and express it verbally and dont get into trouble its just not worth the stress and upset. thx again to everyone for their advice and i am lucky im sat here saying that he did not get sent to prison.
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