Looking back over two decades I can still recollect the feeling of uncertainty as a new magistrate when forced to agree with those more senior than myself at that time that "no separate penalty" was the appropriate sentence for some offenders. It was just one of the many facets of life on the bench which were not covered in any form of training. If one were truly interested in "getting up to speed" it was a matter of self education. The logic as explained by the Sentencing Council is copied below, That logic is fairly applied in many cases where the offenders` are charged with multiple motoring offences the most common combinations being any two or more of driving without due care or speeding combined with a license offence, no M.O.T., using a mobile phone and/or no insurance. However when dissimilar offences arising from the same "stop" by police are charged together the logic seems in my opinion to be awry.
Where an offender is to be fined for two or more offences that arose out of the same incident, it will often be appropriate to impose on the most serious offence a fine which reflects the totality of the offending where this can be achieved within the maximum penalty for that offence. ‘No separate penalty’ should be imposed for the other offences.
Where compensation is being ordered, that will need to be attributed to the relevant offence as will any necessary ancillary orders.
Possession of a controlled drug
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, s.5(2)
Effective from: 27 February 2012
Triable either way
Category 1 (class A) Band C fine Band A fine – 51 weeks’ custody
Category 2 (class B) Band B fine Discharge – 26 weeks’ custody
Official figures for police seizures of drugs are copied below- the police are having to face the inevitability that illegal drug use appears to be on an ever increasing scale.
The bench of course proceeded directly as per Sentencing Guidelines. However it is my long held opinion that "no separate penalty" in a case such as described above is a travesty. More than that it is a disgrace to the concept of justice. The report tells us nothing about this offender`s previous convictions but it is not unlikely that he was not of good character. If class A drug possession was the principal charge at crown court I doubt he would have been treated so lightly. But the rule is if one matter is summary so are those added. There surely must be a case for a complete re-think by the Sentencing Council on the principle of "no separate penalty".
Class A
•Seizures of Class A drugs increased by 13% between 2017/18 and 2018/19, from 29,090 to32,753 seizures. Cocaine was the most commonly seized Class A drug, with 52% of all Class A seizures involving this substance in 2018/19.
•There were 17,038 seizures of cocaine in 2018/19, up 12% on the previous year (15,250 seizures). The quantity of cocaine seized also increased from 3,338 kilograms in 2017/18 to9,645 kilograms in 2018/19, an increase of 6,307 kg. This is the largest quantity of cocaine seized since recording began in 1973.
•The quantity of ecstasy seized increased from 0.7 million doses in 2017/18 to 2.2 million doses in 2018/19. This was the highest quantity seized since 2006/07 (6.6 million).
•There were 54,070 doses of LSD seized in 2018/19, the highest since 2005 when 1,137,000 doses were recorded, and an increase on the previous year (3,351 doses).
•Seizures of crack by police forces increased by 20%, from 5,443 in 2017/18 to 6,556 in 2018/19,the highest number of seizures since 2008/09. The quantity of crack seized by police forces increased by 73%, from 36 kilograms in 2017/18 to 63 kilograms in 2018/19, the highest amount seized since 2004.
•There were 22 seizures of fentanyl and 8 seizures of fentanyl analogues by police forces and Border Force in 2018/19.
Crown Court statistics are not totally transparent on class A drug offences as they are often disposed off alongside other serious offences. However where possession of class A drugs is the principal offence it appears that in England and Wales latest annual figures are 11,610 defendants and a conviction rate of 93%. It seems that there were an additional four and a half thousand offences of a similar nature.
All the above is background information. Last week a defendant appeared at Exeter Magistrates' Court where he pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker. His early guilty plea was taken into consideration and he was jailed for 26 weeks and ordered to pay the officer £100 in compensation. In addition,he pleaded guilty to possession of diamorphine - heroin, possession of cocaine and possession of cannabis. Magistrates ordered no separate penalty for these offences. [my bold]. The original press report can be accessed here.
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