Interestingly, a few days after the R v Auton Court of Appeal ruling edgey posted about came to light on here, the Sentencing Council have announced a public consultation on drug sentencing. No doubt the rulings we've discussed in edgey's thread will play a major part in the guidelines laid down. They're allowing feedback not only from law makers and briefs, but from the general public at large too - THIS MEANS YOU!
The PDF is linked to from the page linked below, and contains everything they propose, including sentencing guidelines and proposed mitigating/aggravating factors.
w w w.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/sentencing/consultations-current.htm
Once you've had a look at that, you can then feel informed enough to take the public questionnaire which is linked to from the pages above.
Now, I don't REALLY know what I'm talking about, I'm just a stoner on a forum. I don't suggest you take what I say on face value, but a few quotes below which I've taken from the PDF might give you a pointer of some things to look out for when you read it yourself. I've also only picked out a few things relating to cultivation - there are specifics in the document for charges of possession, allowing premises to be used, importation, etc
Interesting they have the break between small and medium right where the R v Auton cases were, above 1kg. In addition to these new suggested guideline amounts, there are specifics about plant numbers..
To judge the difference between "significant" and "industrial" scale ops you'd imagine they would then refer to the table of quantities above, with some kind of (plant number x 40g) equation.
Also relevant is the definition of Subordinate, particularly the part below.
This means any personal only grower is always going to be considered to be in a "subordinate role", with the sliding scale of quantity then coming into play. This would make a custodial sentence highly unlikely until the 15+ plants range, and even then, with some mitigation and an early guilty plea, the sentence could be reduced to a community order. Unless an exceptionally serious case, the most you would ever likely be sentenced to for a personal grow is 51 weeks.
The proposal discusses the current problem in the UK of uk.gov's ridiculous position on medical weed. Well worth reading if you grow for medical reasons.
Relevant Press Release text below..
The PDF is linked to from the page linked below, and contains everything they propose, including sentencing guidelines and proposed mitigating/aggravating factors.
w w w.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/sentencing/consultations-current.htm
Once you've had a look at that, you can then feel informed enough to take the public questionnaire which is linked to from the pages above.
Now, I don't REALLY know what I'm talking about, I'm just a stoner on a forum. I don't suggest you take what I say on face value, but a few quotes below which I've taken from the PDF might give you a pointer of some things to look out for when you read it yourself. I've also only picked out a few things relating to cultivation - there are specifics in the document for charges of possession, allowing premises to be used, importation, etc
New potential sliding scale for quantities (intent to supply) said:Very large = 100kg to 400kg
Large = 25kg to 99.99kg
Medium = 1kg to 24.99kg
Small = 100g to 999.9g
Very small = up to 99.9g
Interesting they have the break between small and medium right where the R v Auton cases were, above 1kg. In addition to these new suggested guideline amounts, there are specifics about plant numbers..
Potential sentencing table for cultivation said:
To judge the difference between "significant" and "industrial" scale ops you'd imagine they would then refer to the table of quantities above, with some kind of (plant number x 40g) equation.
Also relevant is the definition of Subordinate, particularly the part below.
Subordinate
- If own operation, absence of any financial gain, for example joint purchase for no profit, or sharing minimal quantity between peers on non-commercial basis, such as a reefer
This means any personal only grower is always going to be considered to be in a "subordinate role", with the sliding scale of quantity then coming into play. This would make a custodial sentence highly unlikely until the 15+ plants range, and even then, with some mitigation and an early guilty plea, the sentence could be reduced to a community order. Unless an exceptionally serious case, the most you would ever likely be sentenced to for a personal grow is 51 weeks.
Couple of mitigation factors that may be relevant/useful to the average UKer here said:Isolated incident
Serious medical conditions requiring urgent, intensive or long-term treatment
Sole or primary carer for dependent relatives
The proposal discusses the current problem in the UK of uk.gov's ridiculous position on medical weed. Well worth reading if you grow for medical reasons.
Couple of aggravating factors that may be relevant/damaging to the average UKer here said:Use of premises accompanied by unlawful access to electricity/other utility supply of others
Ongoing/large scale operation as evidenced by presence and nature of specialist equipment
Nature of any likely supply
Level of any profit element
Presence of others, especially children and/or non-users
Relevant Press Release text below..
28 March 2011
Sentencing for drug offences: consultation launched on changes to judges’ guidelines
The Sentencing Council launched a 12 week consultation proposing changes to the guidelines that judges and magistrates use to sentence people for drug offences.
Although sentencers have been assisted by judgments of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), and there are guidelines in relation to some offences being sentenced in the magistrates’ court, there is no statutory guideline that covers drugs offences in the Crown Court. Following work from the Sentencing Advisory Panel, the new guideline will cover offences in both the Crown and magistrates courts and will therefore encourage a consistency in approach to sentencing drugs offenders.
The draft guideline covers the most commonly sentenced drugs offences including importation, production, supply, permitting premises to be used for drugs offences and possession. For the first time in the Crown Court, it will mean that sentences are based on the court’s assessment of the offender’s role in the offence and the quantity of drugs involved or scale of the operation.
<paragraphs removed>
Chairman of the Sentencing Council, Lord Justice Leveson, said:
“We want to ensure that those who are responsible for the most serious drug crime receive the longest sentences and that punishments overall are in proportion to the offender’s role and the amount of drugs involved."
“This is a public consultation: we want to encourage any member of the public to share their views with us.”
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