SENTENCING STATEMENTS
A judge may decide to publish a statement after passing sentence on an offender in cases where there is particular public interest; where a case has legal significance; or where providing the reasons for the decision might assist public understanding.
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When deciding a sentence, a judge must deal with the offence that the offender has been convicted of, taking into account the unique circumstances of each particular case. The judge will carefully consider the facts that are presented to the Court by both the prosecution and by the defence.
For more information about how judges decide sentences; what sentences are available; and matters such as temporary release, see the independent Scottish Sentencing Council website.
Read more about victims of crime and sentencing.
HMA v Gary McGuire
Feb 27, 2025
On sentencing Lady Poole made the following remarks in court:
“Gary McGuire, you plead guilty at Edinburgh High Court to a serious offence of aggravated assault.
You had been drinking in your home with a vulnerable man with a prosthetic leg who was 13 years older than you. The next thing he remembers is lying face down on the floor. He had been left unconscious after an attack by you. You had not phoned for help for him. When police arrived after being alerted by somebody else, your victim, you and the flat were covered in blood. Forensic evidence showed you had assaulted your victim with improvised weapons. Broken pieces of items were found on the floor.
Your victim had extremely serious injuries to his head, face and arms. His life was endangered, and he had to remain in hospital for 5 days. He had facial fractures, a brain injury, and lacerations on his face and arms including various deep ones. One of the lacerations to his face was a large semi-circular injury on his cheek under his eye, which required a large number of stitches. His face has been left permanently scarred. A victim impact statement explains that he is so self conscious about this scar it restricts him being able to go outside. He now uses a wheelchair, but even that is painful for him because of his arm injuries as a result of the attack. Your victim’s mental health has suffered.
You have a record of serious previous offending over the last two decades. It includes being convicted twice before in the High Court for assault and robbery, as well as numerous other offences of assault. A number of your previous assaults have involved weapons such as knives. In 2011 you had been sentenced to imprisonment on a number of occasions, resulting in you serving much of the next decade in prison. Once out, you reoffended in 2021 and 2022, including four assaults in 2022 for which you were again imprisoned. You committed this offence while still on licence for the sentence of imprisonment imposed on you for the last of your previous offences.
I requested a criminal justice social work report to assist me with sentencing you. It finds you at a maximum level of risk/needs.
I have taken into account everything said on your behalf in mitigation, including your health issues. You give an account of an altercation breaking out, with your victim also assaulting you. Your victim has no memory of what happened to him but was a vulnerable, older and disabled man. You plead guilty, but only after the case had been balloted and jurors had attended court on a different day. The Crown had required to prepare for the case including arranging witnesses. However, your plea did have some utilitarian value in avoiding the need for witnesses to attend to give evidence and you will be given a restricted discount to your sentence to reflect that.
An offence of this nature, particularly given your previous convictions, must attract a significant prison sentence. The public need to be protected from you. The sentence I impose is an extended sentence, because I do not consider that the ordinary conditions of licence would be adequate to protect the public from the risk of serious harm from you. The total extended sentence is 9 years and 8 months.
The first part of that sentence is a custodial period of 6 years and 8 months, discounted from a headline of 7 years for your guilty plea. This will be followed by an extension period in the community of 3 years, when you will be on licence on conditions fixed by the Scottish Ministers. If you fail to comply with the conditions, the licence may be revoked and you may be returned to custody; and you may also be sentenced for an offence committed while on licence.
I also have to decide whether I should make any order in respect of the unexpired period of the previous sentence of imprisonment to which you were still subject at the time of your most recent offending. From the date of the present offence to sentence expiry date is approximately 170 days. Having considered matters carefully, and in particular having had regard to the nature and duration of the sentence which I have just imposed, I have narrowly decided not to make a return order in respect of that unexpired portion.
Your sentence will be backdated to 21 August 2023 when you were first remanded in custody”.
27 February 2025