R v Karley Harding
[2024] EWCA Crim 936
R v Natalie Bryant
20 September 2023
[2023] EWCA Crim 1126
Court of Appeal
Natalie Bryant was involved in a really bad fight and got 24 months in jail. The judge thought that was too long given her difficult life and reduced it to 18 months. She still has to go to jail.
Key Facts
- •Natalie Bryant pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis (count 2) and assault occasioning actual bodily harm (count 3) against Angela Williams.
- •The assault involved a prolonged and violent attack by Bryant and her co-defendant, Wesley Yarnold, on Williams on Christmas Day 2022.
- •Williams sustained severe bruising, tenderness, grazes, scratch marks, blurred vision, and vomiting.
- •Bryant was intoxicated at the time of the assault.
- •Bryant had no previous convictions.
- •The pre-sentence report detailed several traumatic events in Bryant's life, including an alcoholic mother, the deaths of loved ones, abuse from a previous partner, and her children being taken into care.
- •The assault was categorized as A1 under the assault guideline, with a starting point of 2.5 years' imprisonment.
Legal Principles
Sentencing guidelines for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Assault guideline
Outcomes
The appeal against sentence was partially allowed.
The original sentence of 24 months' imprisonment was considered too high given Bryant's mitigating circumstances, including her lack of prior convictions, remorse, traumatic life experiences, and the non-premeditated nature of the attack. The court found that insufficient weight was given to these factors.
The sentence was reduced to 18 months' imprisonment.
The court determined that a 24-month sentence before applying credit for the guilty plea was appropriate, reducing to 18 months after the 25% credit.
The sentence remained one of immediate custody.
The court agreed with the recorder's assessment that the gravity of the offence was too serious to justify suspension.