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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions >> Parnham, R v [2003] EWCA Crim 416 (7 February 2003) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2003/416.html Cite as: [2003] EWCA Crim 416 |
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CRIMINAL DIVISION
The Strand London WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
and
MR JUSTICE ELIAS
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R E G I N A | ||
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MARK CHRISTOPHER GARY PARNHAM |
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Smith Bernal, 190 Fleet Street, London EC4
Telephone 020-7421 4040
(Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
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Crown Copyright ©
Friday 7 February 2003
MR JUSTICE JACKSON:
"There are matters which go to your credit, obviously, your previous good character and your good work record. I accept that, of course, you are now really remorseful for what happened on 5 March of last year. That was, in fact, a horrendous attack upon your wife. This court has to balance the requirement to reflect the public horror at the taking of a life in those circumstances with the view that the jury have taken about your lack of intent. No sentence that I can impose would ever reflect the value of the life that you took; it cannot restore a loved one to her family or a mother to her children, and I am bound to follow the guidelines which are set down by the higher courts for the appropriate sentence in a case of this nature."
"THE JUDGE: You see, the important factor is when you start, as you probably will in a moment, suggesting that I give credit for what, in effect, might have been an indication of a plea of guilty to manslaughter, how can I do that, when I have been addressing the jury in the course of today on the basis your client is saying he is not guilty of anything? It is a dilemma, and I am asking you how do I deal with it.
MR WOOD [Counsel for the appellant]: Your Honour, the fact is that we made that offer to the Crown in October. We reiterated that offer, and I hope my learned friend, Mr Katz, does not mind me saying this, we reiterated it to the Crown on Monday of this week, and the Crown's view was that it was not acceptable, and they wished the jury to resolve this matter. It seemed to me then only right, acting in Mr Parnham's interests, that the jury should have before them all possible verdicts, which seemed to me, on the face of the papers, and on the way the evidence turned out, still to be available."
It is clear from the way the transcript continues and from the sentencing remarks that the judge proceeded to sentence on the basis that no discount was due for the offer of a plea of guilty to manslaughter.