R v Luke Matthews
[2024] EWCA Crim 151
R v Rupert Earl-Ocran
16 August 2024
[2024] EWCA Crim 1031
Court of Appeal
A man fired a gun from his balcony. He was sentenced for having an illegal gun and for having a gun to scare people. The court said the sentence was fair, but made a small change to how the sentence was legally written so it was correct.
Key Facts
- •Appellant (age 29) fired three shots from a handgun from a balcony into the street.
- •Appellant called 999 anonymously reporting gunshots.
- •Police recovered a converted 9mm blank-firing pistol from appellant's flat.
- •Appellant had eight previous convictions, including robbery and drug offences.
- •Appellant claimed he fired shots to scare men he believed were threatening him.
- •Psychiatric report indicated paranoid, antisocial, and emotionally unstable personality disorder, possibly linked to cannabis abuse.
Legal Principles
Sentencing for possession of a prohibited firearm under section 5(1)(aba) of the Firearms Act 1968.
Firearms Act 1968
Sentencing for possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence under section 16A of the Firearms Act 1968.
Firearms Act 1968
Minimum sentence provisions under section 311 of the Sentencing Act 2020.
Sentencing Act 2020
Dangerous offender provisions and extended sentences under the Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 18.
Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 18
Appeals against sentence; the Court of Appeal's role in reviewing sentencing decisions.
Criminal Appeal Act 1968, section 11(3)
Outcomes
Appeal against the length of the custodial sentence and the finding of dangerousness was dismissed.
The judge's assessment of dangerousness was supported by the evidence, and the sentence was not manifestly excessive.
The original sentences were quashed.
The extended sentence was applied incorrectly; dangerousness provisions did not apply to the possession of a prohibited firearm offence.
New sentences were imposed: five years' imprisonment for possession of a prohibited firearm; eight-year extended sentence (six years custody, two years extension) for possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
This corrected the legal error while maintaining the overall length of the sentence.