The Sentencing Advisory Panel has today published its first advice to the Sentencing Guidelines Council; the Council is invited to consider the Panel's proposals for sentencing guidelines on cases of robbery.
The Panel's advice is based on the proposals outlined in its consultation paper, which was published on 9 April 2003, but takes into account the various responses received. Respondents to the consultation paper expressed a range of views and, inevitably, the Panel was not able to accommodate them all. As always, however, the Panel considered each response very carefully before reaching its final view, and is grateful to all those who responded for their contribution to its work.

The Panel has decided to include three of five identified categories of robbery in its advice to the Council; the chosen categories are those that consultees and Panel members believe will benefit from a guideline. The Panel has reached the conclusion that although the three categories are distinct in nature, they can be grouped, and it recommends a single sentencing range based on four levels of seriousness.

The advice relates to:

1) “street robbery or mugging”, where the level of financial gain is likely to be low, including offences at or around cash-point machines or similar openly vulnerable places;

2) “robberies of small businesses” – those robberies where the offender goes off the street, perhaps targeting small businesses such as a small shop or post office, petrol station or public transport/taxi facility which may not be well protected and yield significant amounts of property and;

3) “less sophisticated commercial robberies” – those robberies where banks, building societies and larger commercial establishments are the target, which involve the use of weapons and follow a degree of planning but lack higher levels of organisation.

The dominant factor in assessing seriousness for any of the three types of robbery is the degree of force used or threatened, and the Panel's advice is premised on that basis. The Panel has identified four levels of seriousness based on the extent of the force, for the purpose of identifying both the sentencing range and an appropriate starting point within each range. It is the Panel’s view that the sentencing ranges proposed for each level are of sufficient scope to encompass the variety of circumstances in which the offence of robbery might be committed within the three different categories. A presumptive ‘starting point’ of sentence severity is given for a first offence in each level of seriousness based upon a first-time offender who has pleaded not guilty.

Adult and youth offenders are dealt with separately in view of the high proportion of robbery offences committed by youths, the different factors that must be taken into account when sentencing young offenders and the different disposals available to sentencers.

The two types of robbery not covered by the Panel's advice are:

1) Violent personal robberies in the home and;
2) Professionally planned commercial robberies.

The Panel sees no need, at this time, to recommend a guideline for violent robbery in the home, which is a specific category of robbery often accompanied by other serious offences that affect the sentencing decision. For professionally planned commercial robberies, although R v. Turner (1975) is now an old case, it is the opinion of the Panel that the principles and sentencing ranges identified remain valid and require no amendment.

Readers are reminded that, in light of the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which are now in force, the Sentencing Advisory Panel now submits its advice to the Sentencing Guidelines Council instead of the Court of Appeal. The Council must consider the advice of the Panel before publishing and consulting on draft guidelines.

Notes for editors

1. The Sentencing Advisory Panel is an independent advisory and consultative body originally constituted under sections 80 and 81 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The Panel is sponsored by the Home Office and the Department for Constitutional Affairs. It started work on 1 July 1999. Its function, prior to implementation of the relevant provisions in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, was to provide fully researched, objective advice to the Court of Appeal to assist the Court when it frames or revises sentencing guidelines.
2. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 establishes a new Sentencing Guidelines Council to take over responsibility for issuing sentencing guidelines. With effect from 27 February 2004 the Sentencing Advisory Panel submits its advice to the Council rather than to the Court of Appeal. The Panel will be able to offer advice on general sentencing principles as well as specific offences.
3. The Panel believes it would be helpful for the Sentencing Guidelines Council to issue guidelines setting out a new approach to sentencing for robbery. The degree of violence used or threatened should be the primary factor in sentencing, with the value of the property stolen being given relatively less weight.
4. The Panel’s most recent proposal, that the Court of Appeal should frame a sentencing guideline on alcohol and tobacco smuggling, was published on 10th July 2003. The Court of Appeal issued a sentencing guideline, based on the Panel’s advice, in the case of Czyzewski and others on 16th July 2003. The Court of Appeal has made use of the Panel’s advice in other guideline judgments including on causing death by dangerous driving (in Cooksley and others on 3 April 2003); offences involving child pornography (in Oliver and others, 21 November 2002); on rape (in Millberry and others, 9 December 2002); and on domestic burglary (in McInerney and Keating, 20 December 2002).
5. Copies of the Panel's advice to the Sentencing Guidelines Council on Robbery may be obtained from: Gareth Sweny, Sentencing Guidelines Secretariat, Room G11, Allington Towers, 19 Allington Street, London SW1E 5EB. The document is also available on the Panel’s website: www.sentencing-advisory-panel.gov.uk
6. For more information, contact Lesley Dix, Secretary to the Sentencing Advisory Panel, on 020 7035 5186