Appeal allowed: Prison corruption sentence for misconduct

Allowing the Appellant’s appeal against sentence, the Court of Appeal Criminal Division (Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, Mrs Justice Thornton and His Honour Judge Dean KC Recorder of Manchester) substituted 20 months’ imprisonment for the original 27 months’ imprisonment.

If a custodial sentence is twenty-four or fewer months, the sentencing court has power to suspend the custodial term.

The jury convicted the Appellant, then a prison officer, of misconduct in a public office spanning a period of five months and two ancillary offences.  Sentencing the Appellant, the Judge observed that the Appellant had secretly embarked on a romantic and intimate relationship with a prisoner.

Deciding to allow the Appellant’s appeal, to the extent that it did, the Court of Appeal concluded that the sentence was too long.  

Whilst the Court did not fault the sentencing Judge’s approach at sentence, which, the Court observed, was structured, thoughtful, and given over some length of time (34 minutes), the Court agreed with Abigail’s submissions for the Appellant that the Judge had given too little importance to the lengthy delay in trying this case. The investigation had started in June 2020. The trial was listed three times. The third trial concluded five years after the last part of the principal offending.  The Court agreed with Abigail’s submissions for the Appellant that that delay weighed heavily on her. 

The Single Judge had granted the Appellant permission to appeal on both grounds of appeal that the Appellant had pleaded.

Abigail had appeared for the Appellant at her trial and sentence.

Read the BBC’s reporting on the Appellant’s trial last July, and the sentence passed last September, here and here and here.