Sentences for manslaughter of Ekram Haque not to be referred as Unduly Lenient

20 August 2010

After a very careful review of the case, the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC MP, has decided not to refer the sentences imposed on two young offenders for a fatal attack on Mr Ekram Haque to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient.

Leon Elcock and Hamza Lyzai pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Ekram Haque who they attacked outside a mosque in Tooting, South London, last August, and were given sentences of four and half years and three and a half years detention respectively. The question the Attorney General considered was whether these terms were possibly unduly lenient and should be reviewed by the Court of Appeal.

Explaining his decision the Attorney General said:

"This was a shocking case, not least because this cowardly attack happened in front of the victim's granddaughter. I commend the sentencing judge who lifted the ban on naming the defendants in order to warn others who may be tempted to indulge in such appalling behaviour.

"The power to refer cases to the Court of Appeal is narrow and carefully defined. In this case the judge approached the sentencing exercise with care and, after looking at all the factors involved, I do not consider the terms to be unduly lenient and therefore I concluded that the Court of Appeal would be highly unlikely to increase the sentences."

Ends

For media enquiries please contact:
The Attorney General's Press Office on 020 7271 2440/2484/2465
Or email: bernie.caffarey@attorneygeneral.gsi.gov.uk
Out of hours pager: 07623 946316

Notes to editors:

  • The Attorney General has the power under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to refer a case to the Court of Appeal where the sentence is considered to be unduly lenient. This must be done within 28 days of the sentence being imposed. The time limit is mandatory and cannot be extended. It is only sentences for certain more serious offences that can be referred to the Court of Appeal in this way.
  • If the Court of Appeal finds the sentence to be unduly lenient it can, if it considers it appropriate, quash any sentence passed and impose a higher one. Or the Court may find a sentence unduly lenient but decide that it is not appropriate to alter it, perhaps because of developments since the sentence was referred or, on occasion, where an offender has shown good progress in complying with a community based penalty and it is believed that little would be achieved by placing the offender in custody at that stage.
  • The Attorney General can also examine the length of the minimum term imposed in relation to an indeterminate sentence.
  • Cases are usually referred to the Attorney General by the Crown Prosecution Service but it is open also to victims, their families, members of the public and MPs to ask the Attorney General to consider whether a sentence could be unduly lenient.
  • For the Law Officers to be able to refer a case they must be satisfied that the sentence passed was unduly lenient. That is to say, they must be satisfied it falls significantly below the sentence that any judge could reasonably have passed, having regard to the law.
  • Figures for the ULS cases considered in 2009 can be found on the Attorney General's website.