Scott Townsley v. Her Majesty’s Advocate [2016] HCJAC 87

Note of appeal against sentence:- On 21 June 2016, at a first diet at Dundee Sheriff Court, the appellant pled guilty on indictment to:- a breach of a special condition of bail; three charges of assaulting police officers while in the execution of their duty; and a charge of assaulting a procurator fiscal depute in court whilst she was in the execution of her duty. In relation to the breach of bail a sentence of 3 months imprisonment was imposed discounted from 4 months on account of the plea of guilty. In relation to the assaults on the police officers the appellant was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment, discounted form 40 months due to the plea, to run concurrently with the 3 months. In relation to the assault on the fiscal depute the appellant was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment, discounted from 40 months due to the plea, which sentence was to run consecutively to the other sentences imposed, resulting in a total sentence of 5 years imprisonment backdated to 21 March 2016 meaning the headline sentence before the discount was applied was 6 years and 8 months. The appellant appealed against the sentences imposed on the grounds that they were excessive, in particular:- (a) the headline sentence of 40 months for the assaults on the police officers was excessive; (b) the headline sentence of 40 months for the assaults on the fiscal depute was excessive; and (c) the sheriff failed to take account of the cumulative effect of his sentences which created a total headline sentence of 6 years and 8 months which was excessive, particularly in light of the absence of serious injury to any of the complainers. Here the court refused the appeal and approved the sentencing sheriff’s assessment of the seriousness of the offences. The court made clear that assaults on persons engaged in their public duties should be dealt with seriously by the courts. The court highlighted that police officers in the course of their employment often have to deal with people who are dangerous and violent towards them. In relation to assaults on persons working at court in any capacity the court considered that it is important that those people are able to carry out their work without fear of retribution and the fact that it was an assault on a fiscal depute engaged in her duties in a court room were aggravating features. The court also pointed to the appellant being on bail at the time of the commission of the offences and he had a lengthy schedule of previous convictions which dated back to 1994.