Sentencing starting point reduced by over four years for drug offences
Our client, a young man of good character, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply MDMA, Cannabis and Xanax, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm against a Police Officer.
He was stopped at York Train Station in 2019 and found to be in possession of £40,000 worth of drugs. He was charged with ABH after a Police Officer hurt his leg when our client resisted arrest.
Our client pleaded guilty to the drug charges on the basis that he was threatened to deliver the drugs to an address in York, in order to pay off a drug debt that he had accrued to some drug dealers. We eventually persuaded the Prosecution to accept this basis of plea.
On the basis of the sentencing guidelines, our client was looking at a starting point of eight years imprisonment for the drug offences. We had our client assessed by a psychologist who provided a helpful report confirming that our client was autistic, vulnerable, and easily lead. We gathered various character references from our client’s family and friends that spoke about our client’s good character. We also asked the Court to order a Pre-Sentence Report to assist at the sentencing hearing. This report concluded that our client would find custody particularly difficult.
Our client received a sentence of three years and six months imprisonment for the drug offences. This was despite the Prosecution suggesting that the drug offences were at the top end of the relevant category of the sentencing guidelines, and arguing for a sentence of ten years’ imprisonment. Our client received a six-month sentence for the ABH of the Police Officer, to run alongside the sentence for the drug offences.
Amy Cox and Milly Blunt prepared this case, and Jamie Baxter of 7 Harrington Street Chambers was instructed.
