Key Facts
- •Subhaan Nazir (22) was caught with drugs in his car and at his home.
- •He swallowed crack cocaine and heroin when police approached.
- •A magnetic box containing drugs was found attached to his car.
- •His phone was linked to a drugs line.
- •He had a previous conviction for similar offenses.
- •He was on licence at the time of the offense.
- •He was convicted by a jury and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.
- •The Solicitor General referred the sentence as unduly lenient.
Legal Principles
A sentence is unduly lenient if it falls outside the range a judge could reasonably consider appropriate, considering relevant factors, case law, and sentencing guidelines.
Attorney General's Reference (No. 4 of 1989) [1991] WLR 41
Sentencing guidelines are not to be applied mechanistically; a nuanced approach is sometimes appropriate, but departures from starting points must be justified.
Sentencing Council's drugs guideline
Outcomes
The original three-year sentence was quashed.
The judge failed to justify reducing the starting point for sentencing, insufficient weight was given to aggravating factors (previous conviction, offending while on licence, sophisticated methods to avoid detection), and the reduction for mitigating factors was excessive.
Concurrent sentences of five years' imprisonment were substituted.
The Court of Appeal determined that a five-year sentence was the minimum appropriate sentence considering all factors including the guideline, aggravating factors, and mitigating factors.