Key Facts
- •Reece Mutsinze, aged 17, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding (s.20 Offences against the Person Act 1861).
- •The offence occurred in HMYOI Weatherby while Mutsinze was serving a 78-month sentence for sexual offences.
- •Mutsinze was sentenced to an additional eight months' detention (s.250 Sentencing Act 2020), consecutive to his existing sentence.
- •The assault involved multiple perpetrators attacking a fellow inmate, resulting in injuries including a head laceration and eye injuries.
- •Mutsinze had nine previous convictions for 15 offences.
Legal Principles
A sentence of detention for a specified period under s.250 Sentencing Act 2020 can only be imposed on a 17-year-old for offences listed in s.249 of the same Act.
Sentencing Act 2020, sections 249 and 250
A Detention and Training Order (under s.237(4) Sentencing Act 2020) can be imposed consecutively to another sentence of detention.
Sentencing Act 2020, section 237(4)
Outcomes
The appeal succeeded.
The original sentence of eight months' detention under s.250 Sentencing Act 2020 was unlawful as unlawful wounding is not an offence listed in s.249.
The eight-month detention sentence was quashed.
The sentence was unlawful.
An eight-month Detention and Training Order was substituted.
This is the appropriate sentence given the circumstances and the illegality of the original sentence.