Key Facts
- •Jennifer Blackadder pleaded guilty to breach of a restraining order, assault by beating, stalking involving fear of violence, and intimidating a witness.
- •She had a long history of similar offences against her former partner, Ezekiel Roberts, and his new partner, Megan Harris.
- •The Crown Court judge deferred sentence for three months, a decision challenged by the Attorney General as unduly lenient.
- •The offences involved repeated harassment, threats, stalking, assault, and breaches of previous court orders.
- •The judge's deferral of sentence was made without specific conditions and without confirming the offender's consent.
Legal Principles
Deferment of sentence should be used sparingly, predominantly for cases close to a significant threshold where a lesser sentence may be imposed if the defendant adapts their behaviour.
Sentencing Guidelines Council's guideline: "New Sentences – Criminal Justice Act 2003", paragraph 1.2.7
Deferment is inappropriate where the court cannot state clearly what the sentence will be if the defendant complies. A custodial sentence should follow non-compliance.
R v Swinbourne [2023] EWCA Crim 906
Deferment of sentence requires the offender's consent and an undertaking to comply with deferment requirements; the court must be satisfied it's in the interests of justice.
Section 5(1) of the Sentencing Code (Sentencing Act 2020)
A deferred sentence is a 'sentence' under sections 35 and 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, allowing for review as unduly lenient.
Sections 35 and 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988
Outcomes
The Court of Appeal granted leave to refer the case and quashed the deferment of sentence as unduly lenient.
The offender's lengthy history of similar offences, repeated breaches of court orders, and the seriousness of the latest offences warranted a custodial sentence. Deferment was inappropriate given the lack of specific conditions, absence of confirmed consent, and the unlikelihood of a non-custodial sentence even with compliance.
The Court imposed a total sentence of four years and six months' imprisonment, comprised of individual sentences for each offence, with the suspended sentence from 27 January 2022 activated consecutively.
The Court adjusted the individual sentences to account for mitigating factors (psychiatric reports), the length of the sentence, and the need for a totality reduction, while maintaining the overall seriousness of the offences.