Imthiar Khan [2019] EWCA Crim 1752

The appellant was sentenced to 9 months’ imprisonment for fraud, 4 weeks for a Bail Act offence and 4 months for possession of a bladed article, all to run consecutively.

He tried to open a bank account in the name of another using a genuine driving licence. The staff member did not think the photo on the licence matched the appellant, and the police were called. He said he had tried to open the account to obtain money by overdraft to pay off a drug debt. The case was sent to the Crown Court, where he failed to attend the PTPH. When he was arrested on the warrant, he pleaded guilty and was remanded in custody.

Before the warrant was issued, he had been arrested for possession of a lock-knife and was committed to the Crown Court for sentence.

Held: the fraud was placed in the wrong category. There as some planning with limited prospects of success. It was a combined category B5 offence. With the previous convictions for dishonesty and full weight to the mitigating factors, the appropriate sentence after credit was 4 months. The sentence for the Bail Act offence was entirely appropriate as was the sentence for the lock knife. There was every reason for the sentences for the distinct offences to be consecutive, so the total sentence was 9 months.

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