J.M. v. Her Majesty’s Advocate [2016] HCJAC 80

Note of appeal against sentence:- On 3 March 2016, at the High Court of Justiciary at Livingston, the appellant was convicted after trial of charges 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 on the indictment of which some charges related to serious offences of indecency perpetrated against his daughter AM from the age of 5 until she was almost 16. On 31 March 2016, after obtaining a Criminal Justice Social Work Report, the trial judge imposed an extended sentence of 16 years with the custodial element being 13 years and the extension period three years. The appellant appealed against his sentence. It was contended on behalf of the appellant that whilst an extended sentence of the length imposed may not be regarded as excessive the custodial element of 13 years was excessive and ought to be reduced and the extension period increased. Here the court refused the appeal. The court agreed with the trial judge’s observations regarding the gravity of the offences. The court considered that the conduct amounted to a persistent course of serious offending over a considerable period of time. The offences were perpetrated against his daughter and represented a significant breach of trust involving the escalating abuse and rape of his daughter and the attempted rape and rape of his niece and what was described by the court as sexual abuse that was “exceptionally serious”. The court stated that it could not be said the sentence was excessive or that the trial judge had erred in the custodial and extension periods selected.