Sourcing news which might be of interest to magistrates especially when returning to the keyboard after a time away rarely fails to surprise. But surprise doesn`t do justice IMHO to the man who was jailed for assuming the identity of a registered runner at the London Marathon. He was convicted of *fraud by false representation; an either way offence. The report is available here. It would seem that the sentence of four months custody was based on the court`s maximum with one third discount for a guilty plea. It is not unlikely that sentencing for the other offences was concurrent. My question is just how on earth could a lay bench justify in these times such a heavy sentence. Of course we know nothing about any previous convictions he might have had but considering that only about 4% of those sentenced at the lower court receive a custodial sentence this outcome seems arbitrary. I would opine that if his representative did not immediately file an appeal against sentence there and then she failed in her professional duty. About a half of such appeals succeed.
*Fraud by false representation (Section 2)
The defendant:
- made a false representation
- dishonestly
- knowing that the representation was or might be untrue or misleading
- with intent to make a gain for himself or another, to cause loss to another or to expose another to risk of loss.
The offence is entirely focused on the conduct of the defendant.
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