Christopher Graham v. Her Majesty’s Advocate [2016] HCJAC 58

Note of appeal against sentence:- The appellant was convicted of a charge of willful fire raising and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. He appealed against his sentence on the grounds that the sentence imposed was excessive. The circumstances were that the locus was a tenement block containing numerous occupied flats. The appellant had poured petrol through the letterbox there and then ignited it by dropping a lit firelighter through the letterbox. It was submitted on the appellant’s behalf that he had a drug problem and had no recollection of the offence due to being intoxicated. It was further submitted that he had a relatively limited schedule of previous offending including 8 months imprisonment in 2012 and 2 months imprisonment in 2015. It was submitted on his behalf that he had shown some insight into the offence and, as the householder of the locus had watched the petrol come through the letter box and had put the fire out immediately, the risk of injury or death to the occupants of the tenement had been potential rather than actual and in the circumstances the sentence imposed was excessive. Here the court agreed that the sentence imposed was excessive and quashed the sentence of 7 years and substituted a sentence of 5 years imprisonment.