Successful Appeal Against Sentence Attempted Robbery Court of Appeal 2024

Our client was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of attempted robbery following trial at Harrow Crown Court. Both the Defence and the Prosecution agreed that the offence attracted a maximum sentence of no more than 4 years’ custody. Thus, we advised our client to appeal the sentence on the basis that it was ‘manifestly excessive’.

We represented our client in his appeal and applied for permission to appeal the sentence. We argued that the nature of our client’s offence meant that it attracted a sentence of no more than 4 years’ imprisonment, as agreed by the Crown. As such, in handing our client a 5-year sentence, the sentencing judge had contravened the sentencing guidelines with no good reason.

Further, we highlighted the plethora of mitigating factors present in our client’s case. In particular, our client had no recent relevant convictions, he suffered from anxiety and depression at the time of offending, and that he had taken positive steps, whilst in prison awaiting trial, to change his lifestyle.

The single judge who reviewed our application granted our client leave to appeal his sentence. An appeal hearing was listed at the Court of Appeal, and our in-house counsel Tammy Sher appeared before the Court on behalf of our client. She successfully made forceful submissions regarding the manifestly excessive nature of our client’s sentence, and the Court of Appeal accepted these. As such, our client’s 5-year prison sentence was quashed, and substituted with 3 and a half years in custody.

This new sentence is far more reflective of our client’s offending, and recognises his personal mitigation, as well as the positive changes he is now making to turn his life around.