Key Facts
- •Anthony Stephen Hand (appellant) attempted robbery at a Greggs shop and used threatening behavior towards staff.
- •Appellant threatened staff, implying he had a gun, and tried to take money from the till.
- •Appellant also verbally abused police officers with homophobic and sexist remarks.
- •Appellant pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and a public order offence.
- •Appellant had 26 previous convictions for 48 offences.
- •The incident lasted around 10 minutes; the attempted robbery lasted 2-3 minutes.
Legal Principles
Sentencing guidelines for attempted robbery.
Sentencing guidelines for street and less sophisticated robbery.
Sentencing guidelines for public order offences.
Sentencing guidelines for section 4A Public Order Act 1986 offences.
Totality principle in sentencing.
Not explicitly stated but implied.
Outcomes
Appeal allowed; original sentence quashed.
The court found the harm caused by the attempted robbery to be at the lower end of Category 2B, and the culpability to be at the lowest end of culpability B. The consecutive sentence for the public order offence was deemed manifestly excessive.
New sentence imposed: Two years and three months for attempted robbery and one month concurrent for the public order offence.
Reflects a reduced starting point for the attempted robbery, considering the inchoate nature of the offence and mitigating factors such as the appellant's difficult background and alcohol abuse. The public order offence was deemed to be part of the same incident and therefore concurrent.