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England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions >> Attorney General Reference No 64 Of 2003 [2003] EWCA Crim 3514 (20 November 2003) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2003/3514.html Cite as: [2004] Crim LR 241, [2003] EWCA Crim 3514 |
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CRIMINAL DIVISION
Strand London, WC2 |
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B e f o r e :
(LORD JUSTICE ROSE)
MR JUSTICE LEVESON
MR JUSTICE TUGENDHAT
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REFERENCE BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL UNDER | ||
S.36 CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1988 | ||
ATTORNEY-GENERAL's REFERENCE NO 64 OF 2003 | ||
(MOUSSIN BOUJETTIF) | ||
(JOHN HARRISON) |
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Smith Bernal Wordwave Limited
190 Fleet Street London EC4A 2AG
Tel No: 020 7404 1400 Fax No: 020 7831 8838
(Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
MR P BOGAN appeared on behalf of the OFFENDER
MR B SASTRY appeared on behalf of the APPELLANT HARRISON
MR N FRYMAN appeared on behalf of the Crown
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Crown Copyright ©
(i) judges should be alert to pass sentences which have a realistic prospect of reducing drug addiction whenever it is possible sensibly to do so;
(ii) many offences are committed by an offender under the influence of drugs. The fact that a defendant was so acting is not in itself a reason for making a DTTO;
(iii) a necessary prerequisite to the making of such an order is clear evidence that a defendant is determined to free himself or herself from drugs;
(iv) a DTTO is likely to have a better prospect of success early rather than late in a criminal career, though there will be exceptional cases in which an order may be justified for an older defendant;
(v) it will be very rare for a DTTO to be appropriate for an offence involving serious violence or threat of violence with a lethal weapon;
(vi) the type of offence for which a DTTO will generally be appropriate is an acquisitive offence carried out to obtain money for drugs, though the fact that the motive was to feed drug addiction does not compel the conclusion that a DTTO should be made;
(vii) a DTTO may be appropriate even when a substantial number of offences have been committed;
(viii) a DTTO is unlikely to be appropriate for a substantial number of serious offences which either involve minor violence, or have a particularly damaging effect on the victim or victims. There must be a degree of proportionality between offence and sentence, so that excessive weight is not given to the prospect of rehabilitation at the expense of proper regard for the criminality of the offender;
(ix) material about the offender, which becomes available between sentencing and appeal to this Court, may be of particular significance as to the propriety of a DTTO. The Single Judge of this Court may therefore order a further up-to-date assessment in an appropriate case;