Attorney General's Office

No power to refer "girl gang" sentences as unduly lenient

R v Maxamed, Maxamed, Maxamed and Nur
Leicester Crown Court 22 November

The Attorney General is not able to appeal against the sentence in this case because the offence of Actual Bodily Harm is not one which comes within the unduly lenient sentence scheme. There is therefore no power to ask the Court of Appeal to review the sentences passed in this case.

The Attorney General has the power to ask the Court of Appeal to review some sentences which he thinks are "unduly lenient". If the Court of Appeal agrees with the Attorney General it can increase the sentence. However the power to refer sentences is a very limited one and only certain very serious offences (for example murder, rape, and grievous bodily harm) are included.

Facts:

The four defendants in this case pleaded guilty to an offence of Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) and were sentenced in each case to 6 months' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. The defendants Aayan and Ambaro Maxamed and Ifran Nur were also ordered to perform 150 hours unpaid work. A curfew was imposed on the defendant Hibo Maxamed.

The Crown Prosecution Service has explained their decisions in the case here.