SENTENCING STATEMENTS

On sentencing, Lady Poole said:

“Jay Jeff Robert Simpson, you pled guilty to a charge of assault to severe injury and the danger of life at the High Court in Edinburgh on 21 January 2025.

When you were 17 years old, you carried out a cowardly attack on a 13 year old boy.  There appear to have been some issues that day between you and others.  A window had been smashed at a house you were in.  A group responsible ran off, and you and your friends got in a car to follow them.  When you saw them in a supermarket car park, you and your friends got out of the car.  You ran at your victim. You punched him, causing him to fall against a metal barrier.  While he was on the ground you deliberately moved along to his head area.  You took hold of a railing, and used that to hold on to, while you jumped up and down and stamped on his head, five times.  It was a short attack but involved deliberate, targeted and significant force.  You and your friends then ran off leaving your victim there, with no attempt to get help for him. 

Your victim suffered serious injuries.  He had to be admitted to hospital as an inpatient.  He had bruising on his brain, skull fractures, abrasions, a black eye and a tender jaw.  He had concussion, and had to go back to hospital because of suffering post-concussion symptoms like tremors and disturbed vision.  Your attack put his life in danger.  Fortunately it is hoped he will make a full recovery from his physical injuries.  But there are other longer-term consequences for him of what you did.  Your victim has symptoms of PTSD, memory and concentration issues.  His schooling, socialising and hobbies have all been badly affected.  You should be ashamed of yourself for doing this to a child.

I note that you voluntarily turned yourself into the police later on the evening of your attack.  About 5 months later, you offered to plead guilty, and your plea was tendered to the court at the earliest possible stage.  I also take into account that between 16 May 2024 and 16 January 2025, then again from approximately 22 January until 26 February 2025, a total of about 279 days, you were subject to bail conditions including an electronically monitored curfew from 7pm to 7am.  You have also been on supervised bail and have co-operated with your supervisor.  You have no previous convictions.  You have one subsequent conviction, of a breach of bail in connection with bail granted in the present case, although the circumstances appear to have been that your girlfriend told you she had been assaulted and you went to her.  You spent approximately 6 days on remand after that, prior to the Sheriff Court admonishing you in respect of that matter. 

I have taken into account everything said in mitigation.  I note your troubled upbringing.  You have been fortunate with the support of your family, particularly your mother and grandmother.  A psychological report produced on your behalf confirms that you have autism, ADHD and low intellectual functioning.  You are less able than some others to think through the consequences of your actions.  You state you have been the victim of bullying.  You have some vulnerabilities, and had some difficulties when remanded in respect of your breach of bail.  You also have a history of involvement with child and adolescent mental health services, and report self harming.  You have a history of some problematic alcohol and cannabis use.  You are 18 years old now.  You are subject to the Sentencing Young Person’s Guidelines.  Your actions show an absence of good judgement, as well as more risk taking, than would be expected of a person of full maturity.  Your rehabilitation is an important consideration for the court, as well as punishment for the serious consequences of what you did and giving you an opportunity to make amends. 

I ordered a criminal justice social work report.  It assessed you within the medium risk/need range.  You have previously been excluded from school on various occasions for fighting and disruptive behaviour.  You have been referred to the children’s hearing in connection with matters of a violent nature.  You lost an apprenticeship for reasons connected with a fight.  It is clear from the report you have unresolved issues with anger management and a long history of violent behaviour, even though you have no previous convictions.  You are assessed as unsuitable for unpaid work because of your particular characteristics.

A custodial sentence should only be imposed if no other sentence is appropriate, both under the sentencing young persons guidelines, but also because you have not previously served a sentence of detention.  However, stamping on a person’s head in the way you did is a matter the courts take very seriously.  Because of the gravity of your offence and its consequences for your victim, I am satisfied that the custody threshold is met.  Having carefully considered all of the circumstances of this case, I have decided that no sentence is appropriate other than custody. 

I sentence you to detention for a period of 3 years, 3 months and one week, and a supervised release order of 12 months.  The starting point for the sentence of detention is 60 months, which I discount by one third for your early guilty plea to 40 months.  I give a further discount of three weeks to give you credit for the time you have spent on remand, resulting in a sentence of 3 years, 3 months and one week.  This sentence commences from today’s date, 26 February 2025.  I then give you further credit for the time you have spent electronically monitored while on bail, by specifying a relevant period of 140 days.  I direct that this period of 140 days is to be treated as time already served.

The supervised release order is imposed to protect the public from serious harm from you on your release. On your release from custody, you will be under the supervision of the local authority for a period of twelve months.  During that period you will report to the supervising officer allocated to supervise you in a manner and at times specified by that officer.  You must keep your supervising officer informed of your current address and you will comply with any other requirement he or she may reasonably specify.  If you breach the supervised release order, you may be brought back to court and returned to custody for all or any part of a period equal to that between the date of your first breach of the order and the date when your supervision would expire. 

I also make a non-harassment order, because I consider the statutory tests for making that order are met.  You must refrain from approaching or contacting or attempting to approach or contact your victim, by any means including electronic, for a period of ten years from today’s date.  Further details are specified in the court order, which will be provided to you.”

27 February 2025