SENTENCING STATEMENTS
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HMA v James Thomson
Mar 8, 2024
His Lordship delivered the following sentencing statement:
“James Thomson you have pled guilty at a preliminary hearing to an assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment, and to a contravention of section 49(1) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) Act 1995 – having a knife in a public place. The assault involved an unprovoked and terrifying attack on a defenceless young woman by slashing her face with a knife with which you had armed yourself. You inflicted a two to three inch long laceration from the right side of her lip along her right cheek. The incision cut through fat and muscle and at the deepest part the wound was right through to the inside of her mouth. The wound inside her mouth was 1 cm long. The wound was closed using over 20 stitches. It will leave scarring and an altered and unpleasant sensation or numbness in the area of the wound.
It is clear from the victim impact statement that the incident has caused permanent disfigurement for the complainer and very significant psychological consequences. She has also suffered financially because these problems have impacted on her business earnings.
You have two previous convictions and they are both analogous to the current offences. On 10 October 2020 you pled guilty at Glasgow High Court to an assault to severe injury and to the danger of life. The weapon used on that occasion was a screwdriver. The headline sentence for that offence was 4 years 3 months’ imprisonment which was discounted to 3 years 10 months because of your guilty plea. You had been released on licence from that sentence at the time of the current offences. The second conviction was at Alloa Sheriff Court for a contravention of section 49(1) of the 1995 Act for which you were ultimately given a concurrent sentence of 4 months’ imprisonment. The weapon involved on that occasion was a knife.
I have considered the terms of the Criminal Justice Social Work Report and I have Iistened to all that has been said on your behalf. I note that in the past you yourself may also have been the victim of trauma. I have regard to the fact that at the date of your plea you were less than 2 months short of attaining the age of 25, and that you are therefore someone to whom the Sentencing young people guideline applies. I have regard to the sentencing purposes in that guideline, but I do so on the basis that you were almost a mature adult. Your culpability and the harm caused were both high. The sentencing purposes of protection of the public, punishment, and expressing disapproval of offending behaviour all point to the need to impose a significant custodial sentence.
You committed the current offences just over 6 months after your release on licence. At that time your unexpired portion was 505 days. I shall order your return to prison in terms of section 16 of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 for a period of 450 days. That sentence will be served before and be followed by the sentences of imprisonment for the new offences.
I am satisfied having regard to your record, the circumstances of charge 1, and the terms of the risk assessment in the Criminal Justice Social Work Report, that an extended sentence is necessary to protect the public from serious harm from you. The headline sentence for charge 1 is an extended sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, with a custodial term of 7 years and an extension period of 3 years. In light of the utility of your early plea of guilty the custodial term is discounted to 5 years and 3 months. I also take account of the fact that you have been on remand for these offences since 17 April 2023 by further reducing the custodial term to 4 years. Accordingly, the sentence I impose on charge 1 is an extended sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment, made up of a custodial term of 4 years and an extension period of 3 years. The headline sentence on charge 2 is 8 months’ imprisonment in light of the fact that it is your second conviction for having a knife in a public place. I shall discount that sentence to 6 months to reflect the utility of your early plea of guilty. You had the weapon in a public place before you carried out the assault. For that reason the sentence for charge 2 will be consecutive to the sentence imposed on charge 1.”
08.03.24