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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions >> Rollings, R v [2012] EWCA Crim 86 (03 February 2012) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2012/86.html Cite as: [2012] EWCA Crim 86 |
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ON APPEAL FROM THE WOOLWICH CROWN COURT
HIS HONOUR JUDGE CRAWFORD LINDSAY QC
T20117304
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
MR JUSTICE IRWIN
and
MR JUSTICE NICOL
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R |
Appellant |
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- v - |
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ZEPHEN ROLLINGS |
Respondent |
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Miss A Kettle-Williams (instructed by J B Wheatley Solicitors) for the Respondent
Hearing date: 25 January 2012
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Crown Copyright ©
Lady Justice Hallett:
i. The offender was found in possession of a gun and live ammunition.
ii. The ammunition was loaded into the gun.
iii. The ammunition was of a type which expanded on impact.
iv. The offender was in possession of the prohibited items in a residential area.
v. The offender pleaded guilty.
vi. The gun was not discharged.
vii. The offender does not have previous convictions in relation to firearms offences
viii. The offender is a man of a relatively young age. He was 23 at the time of the offences.
However, Mr Garnier also observed that the plea to count 1 was entered on the day of trial and the evidence of his possession of the firearm and ammunition may properly be characterised as overwhelming.
"The appropriate level of sentence for a firearms offence, as for any other offence, will depend on all the facts and circumstances relevant to the offence and the offender, and it would be wrong for this court to seek to prescribe unduly restrictive sentencing guidelines. It will, however, usually be appropriate for the sentencing court to ask itself a series of questions:
(1) What sort of weapon is involved? Genuine firearms are more dangerous than imitation firearms. Loaded firearms are more dangerous than unloaded firearms. …..Unloaded firearms for which ammunition is available are more dangerous than firearms for which no ammunition is available. Possession of a firearm which has no lawful use (such as a sawn-off shotgun) will be viewed even more seriously than possession of a firearm which is capable of lawful use.
(2) What (if any) use has been made of the firearm? It is necessary for the court, as with any other offence, to take account of all circumstances surrounding any use made of the firearm: the more prolonged and premeditated and violent the use, the more serious the offence is likely to be.
(3) With what intention (if any) did the defendant possess or use the firearm? Generally speaking, the most serious offences under the Act are those which require proof of a specific criminal intent (to endanger life, to cause fear of violence, to resist arrest, to commit an indictable offence). The more serious the act intended, the more serious the offence.
(4) What is the defendant's record? The seriousness of any firearm offence is inevitably increased if the offender has an established record of committing firearms offences or crimes of violence."
" Where there are breaches of sections 4, 5, 16, 16A, 17(1) and (2), 18(1), 19 or 21, the custodial term is likely to be of considerable length, and where the four questions suggested above yield answers adverse to the offender, terms at or approaching the maximum may in a contested case be appropriate."
"in a contested case simple possession of a firearm together with ammunition with intent to endanger life merits a sentence of between seven and eight years."
"2. The gravity of gun crime cannot be exaggerated. Guns kill and maim, terrorise and intimidate. That is why criminals want them: that is why they use them: and that is why they organise their importation and manufacture, supply and distribution. Sentencing courts must address the fact that too many lethal weapons are too readily available: too many are carried: too many are used, always with devastating effect on individual victims and with insidious corrosive impact on the wellbeing of the local community.
"3. The purposes of sentencing are identified in section 142 of the 2003 Act. None of these purposes is pre-eminent. All apply to every case, but as a matter of sentencing reality, whenever a gun is made available for use as well as when a gun is used public protection is the paramount consideration. Deterrent and punitive sentences are required and should be imposed."