Edmunds [2019] EWCA Crim 47

The appellant pleaded guilty to possession of stun guns and was convicted of conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons and ammunition, transferring prohibited weapons (3 Thompson Contenders), possession of a Brocok revolver, exporting guns to France, importing Colt handguns and perverting the course of justice by falsifying firearms registers and (separately) tampering with primer tools.

Sentence was before the judge who presided over two trials and he made it clear that the principal offence for sentence was the conspiracy and that he would impose a sentence on that offence that reflected all offending. He imposed 30 years on that offence with concurrent sentences of between 2 and 15 years on the other counts.
The only ground of appeal was an unfair disparity with a co-accused who pleaded guilty, attracting full credit, and was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.

The applicant was a registered firearms dealer and was found to have been the linchpin of the conspiracy over a 7 year period, his culpability was the highest of all those involved.

Held: disparity is a difficult ground upon which to succeed, more so when, as in this case, the sentence imposed is, in itself, unappealable. The circumstances of the two offenders are very different and the sentence imposed on the applicant was intended to reflect the entirety of offending and not just the conspiracy, the applicant did not plead guilty and personal mitigation was different. Even in respect of the conspiracy offence the culpability of the applicant was higher. Taking all of that into account there was no unjustified or unexplained disparity. The renewed application was refused.