Peter King [2019] EWCA Crim 1176

The appellant was convicted of fraud by false representation and sentenced to 4 years and 6 months’ imprisonment, with a further 6 months consecutive for a Bail Act offence. He appealed solely in respect of the Bail Act offence.

The appellant attended court late and was remanded in custody, he was subsequently restored to bail. He then failed to attend court during the judge’s summing up and was arrested post sentence and brought to court to be dealt with for the Bail Act offence. The court had been told that the appellant had been rushed to hospital, but this was not true, the judge had taken his absence as an attempt to disrupt the trial. The appellant was sentenced in his absence for the substantive offence and the judge commented that it had taken a great deal of police time to locate him and bring him to court following that hearing.

Held: this was culpability A and harm category 3; the judge was entitled to conclude that the failure to surrender was a deliberate attempt to evade or delay justice. This had a starting point of 14 days, but this was a serious offence of its type, committed by a man with a poor record. Given the history of bail during the trial the judge was entitled to sentence outside the category range. The appellant was entitled, however, to credit for his guilty plea, the 6-month sentence should have been given a one-third discount. The sentence was quashed and a 4 month consecutive sentence substituted.