James MacIver v. Her Majesty’s Advocate [2016] HCJAC 6

Note of appeal against sentence:- On 8 October 2015, at Edinburgh High Court, the appellant pled guilty under accelerated procedure under section 76 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 to a contravention of section 4(3)(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, namely, being concerned in the supply of diamorphine. The appellant was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment discounted from 9 years on account of the early plea. The circumstances of the offence were that the appellant was found with diamorphine with a maximum potential street value of £14,220 in addition to a variety of associated drugs paraphernalia. The appellant was 55 years of age and had a lengthy schedule of previous convictions, including five contraventions of section 4(3)(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act in relation to Class A drugs. Consequently, in terms of section 205B of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 the minimum sentence the court could impose was 7 years’ imprisonment, unless there exceptional circumstances existed. Here it was submitted on behalf of the appellant that the minimum of 7 years’ imprisonment was a severe sentence and in the particular circumstances of this case, and the appellant’s background, the sentencing judge erred in imposing an additional 2 years, particularly in light of the relatively low amount of the drug recovered, an amount which would often be prosecuted on indictment in the sheriff court. Here the court refused the appeal and could find no fault in the factors taken into account by the sentencing judge in selecting the starting point he did. In light of the number of previous convictions for directly analogous offences the court did not consider that the sentence imposed was excessive.