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Davies, R. v
Factual and Procedural Background
This was an appeal against sentence brought with permission from a single judge. The Appellant was sentenced in the Crown Court to 31 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation. [1][2]
The offending formed part of a sophisticated courier fraud targeting elderly victims between November 2020 and February 2021. The Appellant acted as a courier and made eight collections from four victims. The total loss exceeded £450,000. [3][4]
The sentencing judge placed the Appellant in the medium culpability category, treated the harm as category 1, adopted a five-year starting point, and reduced the sentence for mitigation and the guilty plea to 31 months. [5][6][7][8]
Legal Issues Presented
- Whether the sentencing judge adopted too high a starting point and failed to adjust it appropriately for the Appellant’s role and the amount of harm. [9][10][11]
- Whether insufficient weight was given to the Appellant’s mitigation. [12]
- Whether the Appellant should have received the full one-third reduction for his guilty plea under exception F of the relevant guideline. [13]
Arguments of the Parties
Appellant’s Arguments
- The Appellant’s personal role was limited to collecting items at the final stage of the fraud, despite the wider conspiracy’s significant impact on vulnerable victims. [9]
- The sentencing judge should have considered the Appellant’s limited responsibility for the total harm and the fact that the loss was below £1 million, the amount associated with the category 1 starting point. [10][11]
- Insufficient weight was given to the Appellant’s age, immaturity, delay, rehabilitation, employment, family responsibilities, remorse, and the effect of custody on his child and partner. [12]
- The Appellant should have received full credit for his guilty plea because the case fell within exception F and an earlier indication was said to be unreasonable given the timing and extent of disclosure. [13]
Table of Precedents Cited
| Precedent | Rule or Principle Cited For | Application by the Court |
|---|---|---|
| R v Collins [2018] EWCA Crim 1713; [2019] 1 Cr App R(S) 7 | Victim vulnerability may be relevant to both culpability and harm without constituting impermissible double counting. It also governs adjustments to a starting point when an offence moves into a higher category. [14][15] | The Court held that vulnerability and serious detrimental effects justified moving the case into category 1. It further held that the relevant comparison was with the harm assumed for the lower category’s starting point; the required upward adjustment had not been made, which benefited the Appellant. [16][17] |
Court’s Reasoning and Analysis
The Court upheld the medium culpability assessment. Although the Appellant was not a leading participant, he was not peripheral: he made eight collections, attended the victims, and performed an essential function without which the conspiracy could not operate. [18][19]
The Court also considered an exchange concerning the obtaining of a password for another courier. It regarded that evidence as demonstrating knowledge and involvement beyond that of someone merely collecting parcels without understanding the wider operation. [20]
The challenge to the harm assessment failed. The victims were elderly and had been induced to surrender life savings accumulated over many years; the consequences therefore extended beyond financial loss. The fraud guideline permitted movement to a higher category where vulnerable victims suffered serious detrimental effects. [16]
Applying Collins, the Court rejected the allegation of double counting. Vulnerability could properly inform culpability where a vulnerable victim was deliberately targeted and harm where vulnerability caused serious detrimental effects. [14]
The Court rejected the proposed downward adjustment based on the loss being approximately £450,000 rather than £1 million. The proper comparison was with the category 2 starting point of £300,000; the loss was at the top of that category’s range. An upward adjustment was therefore required after the case moved to category 1, but the sentencing judge had made no such adjustment, benefiting the Appellant. [21][17]
The Court held that the Appellant’s argument about his limited responsibility for the total harm concerned culpability and role, not harm. Since the culpability assessment was sound, the first ground failed. [22][23]
The mitigation ground also failed. The sentencing judge had considered the Appellant’s age, good character, delay, employment, family circumstances, rehabilitation, and remorse, and had reduced the sentence by 30 per cent before considering the guilty plea. The Court regarded that reduction as ample. [24][25]
Regarding the guilty plea, the sentencing judge had considered exception F and the chronology. The disclosure provided described the conspiracy and the Appellant’s role sufficiently to enable an unequivocal indication of guilt. The Court therefore held that full credit was not justified and that the credit awarded was appropriate. [26][27][28]
Holding and Implications
DISMISSED: The Court rejected all grounds of appeal and dismissed the appeal against sentence. [29]
The 31-month sentence therefore remained in force. The opinion does not state broader implications or announce a new precedent.
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