Adam Kirke successfully appeals against mandatory minimum sentence – Court of Appeal give guidance on ‘exceptional circumstances’

Adam Kirke appeared in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) for Mr Cowan, the Appellant, in an appeal against sentence. The Appellant had received a total sentence of 6 months’ imprisonment following guilty pleas to possession of an offensive weapon and a failure to surrender. By virtue of the offensive weapon matter, the Appellant was subject to the minimum term provisions. Adam argued four grounds of appeal and was successful in three (though the fourth ground was an alternative and thus not considered).

The appeal was heard before the full court who quashed the sentence in full. The court deemed that the most appropriate sentence would have been one of a low-level community order, however, as the Appellant had already served some time in custody since the initial sentencing hearing, a short custodial sentence was imposed. This resulted in the Applicant’s immediate release from custody.

Adam was instructed by Peter Walsh of Shaw Graham Kersh.

The full judgement can be found here