Key Facts
- •Stephen Paul was sentenced to life imprisonment in Canada for attempted murder and breaking and entering.
- •He was transferred to England and Wales under the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons.
- •The Canadian court deemed him a dangerous offender, posing a substantial risk to the public.
- •His Canadian sentence had a parole eligibility date of February 1, 2012, after serving a minimum of seven years.
- •Victim impact statements highlight the lasting impact of Paul's crimes on Tammy de Zwaan and her family.
Legal Principles
The Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons requires the UK to continue enforcing the Canadian sentence, adapting it as necessary under UK law.
Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Article 10
Section 273 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 mandates a High Court review of indeterminate sentences transferred from other countries, resulting in either a whole life order or a minimum term order.
Criminal Justice Act 2003, Section 273
The UK court's task is not to resentence but to ensure the sentence's effect corresponds as closely as possible to the original sentence without aggravating it.
R v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Read [1989] AC 1014; R v Norman Hull [2011] EWCA Crim 1261
Outcomes
A minimum term order was imposed.
A whole life order would contradict the Canadian sentence's provision for parole and aggravate the original sanction, violating the Convention. A minimum term aligning with the Canadian sentence's effective parole eligibility date (February 1, 2012) was deemed appropriate.