R v Eugert Merizaj
[2022] EWCA Crim 1586
R v Erik Feld
17 January 2024
[2024] EWCA Crim 59
Court of Appeal
A man was sentenced to life in prison for a planned and extremely violent murder. He argued that a mental disorder should lessen his sentence, but the court found that while he had a disorder, it didn't significantly affect his understanding of his actions or his ability to control himself. The court decided the sentence was fair given the brutality and planning involved in the crime.
Key Facts
- •Erik Feld (38) convicted of murder on 23 March 2023.
- •Sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 28 years (less 506 days on remand).
- •Murder involved a planned, sustained, and brutal hammer attack on a stranger in a park.
- •Feld had previously searched for "murder footage" and "murder videos" online and possessed multiple hammers.
- •Feld's defence of self-defence was rejected by the judge.
- •Feld suffered from a personality disorder, considered as a mitigating factor in sentencing.
Legal Principles
Sentencing for murder involves determining an appropriate minimum term within a life sentence.
Sentencing Act 2020
Mitigating factors in murder sentencing may include mental disorders that reduce culpability, even if not amounting to diminished responsibility.
Schedule 21, paragraph 10(c), Sentencing Act 2020; Sentencing Guideline in respect of Sentencing Offenders with Mental Disorders
The sentencing judge's assessment of culpability, considering all evidence including psychiatric reports, is given significant weight.
Sentencing Guideline in respect of Sentencing Offenders with Mental Disorders, paragraph 13
Outcomes
Appeal against sentence refused.
The sentencing judge properly considered the mitigating effect of the applicant's personality disorder while acknowledging the significant aggravating factors. The minimum term was not considered manifestly excessive.