Prison sentence reduced on appeal

Tuesday 04 December 2018

The Court of Appeal has knocked six months off a man's prison sentence, agreeing with his defence advocate that he had been given too long in jail in the first place once all of the mitigating facts had been considered.

Jack Falla was initially jailed for 18 months after admitting being concerned in the supply of cannabis resin alongside another man.

Neil McDonald was also jailed for 18 months, but he had also faced charges of possession of a shotgun, a sawn off shotgun and ammunition. 

Separately, police enquiries revealed that McDonald and Falla had been jointly concerned in the supply of the Class B drug, after checking McDonald's phone during the ongoing investigation into the other matters. 

Both McDonald and Falla were later jailed for 18 months each, with Falla's lawyers this week successfully arguing that his sentence was unfair when compared to McDonald's as he had faced a number of other charges too.

Pictured: Guernsey's court building. 

While the Court of Appeal, comprising of Roy Logan Martin QC, George Bompas QC and Sir Wyn Williams, disagreed that Falla's sentence was too long compared to  McDonald's they did agree it was excessive when all of the mitigating factors in Falla's favour were reconsidered at length.

The Court of Appeal said the initial starting point of three years should have been reduced automatically to two years because of the assistance Falla gave police officers in their enquiries, and the fact he pleaded guilty very early on. The three men sitting as the Court of Appeal agreed a "substantial discount in sentencing" was deserved because of that "early and useful evidence" provided by Falla.

He was also given additional credit for his previous good character and the references his defence lawyer gave to the court during sentencing.

The Court of Appeal decided the Royal Court had failed to follow guidelines set in a previous case used for guidance and said a substantial reduction in sentence was justified.

Falla's initial sentence of 18 months in prison was quashed and he was given a 12 month sentence to run from the date he was initially jailed, 30 August 2018.

Pictured: Guernsey's prison.