Success in Court of Appeal
Our client, CU, was sentenced in November 2006, aged just 19, for offences of robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.
Background
CU received a Detention for Public Protection (DPP) sentence with a minimum term of three years and six months, less 148 days spent on remand.
Although he had served the minimum term, CU remained in custody for the majority of the following 20 years under the indeterminate sentence.
His original application for permission to appeal against his sentence was refused by a Single Judge in 2007. Consequently, any application to renew that appeal was approximately 19 years out of time.
Our Involvement
Our specialist IPP appeals lawyer, Julie Ann Boyle, was appointed by the Registrar of the Court of Appeal to assist CU with his application to renew his appeal against the DPP sentence.
Julie Ann instructed barrister Paramjit Ahluwalia of One Pump Court. Together, they successfully argued that the original sentencing judge had failed to give sufficient consideration to CU's age, maturity and capacity for change when assessing his dangerousness.
The argument focused on the importance of properly considering the developmental maturity of a young person and their potential for rehabilitation when deciding whether an indeterminate sentence was justified.
Outcome
The Court of Appeal accepted the submissions made on CU's behalf and granted an extension of time, allowing the historic appeal to proceed despite the significant delay.
The Court subsequently quashed the original DPP sentence and replaced it with a determinate sentence of seven years' imprisonment.
This is a significant result, highlighting the importance of properly considering a young person's age, maturity and potential for rehabilitation when assessing dangerousness and imposing an indeterminate sentence. It also demonstrates that, in appropriate circumstances, historic sentences can still be successfully challenged many years after the original appeal deadline has passed.
Our client was represented by Julie Ann Boyle, Criminal Appeals Supervising Solicitor.