The defendant, aged 50, had been in a relationship with the victim, Y. He had been aware that Y had a long history of depression and that she was on anti-depressants. The defendant was excessively possessive and controlling of Y. Eventually, Y decided to end the relationship with him. The defendant took that decision badly and, over the following months, he harassed Y by calling her and attending her home uninvited, which prompted Y to call the police several times. On 13 December 2010, the defendant pleaded guilty to harassment. He was sentenced to a community order, supervision, and to a restraining order prohibiting him from communicating with Y, her young daughter from a previous relationship, or her mother. The defendant, whose wife had died of cancer in 2005 and who had financial and other difficulties, breached the restraining order by attending Y's address in a drunken state and calling her to discuss the relationship. He was arrested and bailed. Three days later, he further breached the restraining order by making silent calls to Y. He was subsequently convicted after trial for the breaches. The defendant was again sentenced to a community order with supervision, and the restraining order was continued. On 16 March 2011, at 10.15pm, about two weeks after he had been sentenced, the defendant went to Y's house and knocked on a window. Y's mother shouted for him to go away and Y rang the police. She saw the defendant standing outside the house wearing a mask. He removed the mask and made a roaring noise, then he screamed and shouted 'I'm coming in and I'm going to get you'. The defendant was arrested near Y's house. He was later convicted in the magistrates' court of breach of a restraining order contrary to s 5(5) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. He was committed to the Crown Court for sentence. The aggravating factors included: (i) that Y had been and had been known to be vulnerable, the impact of the defendant's conduct on Y's daughter and mother; (iii) that there had been a proven history of at least one threat against Y by the defendant; (iv) that Y had been forced to leave her home; and (v) the defendant's repeated breaches of the restraining order. In a victim impact statement, Y expressed her great fear consequent upon the defendant's persistent breaches of the restraining order, which resulted in her taking a higher dosage of anti-depressants. She further stated that both her mother and daughter had had to visit their General Practitioner's following anxiety caused by the defendant. The defendant was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. He appealed against sentence.
He submitted that the sentence was manifestly excessive and in excess of the sentencing guidelines, which recommended, for a single breach of a protective order involving significant psychological harm to the victim, a sentencing range of 12 to 26 weeks' custody. The appeal would be dismissed.
In the instant case, the sentence was not manifestly excessive, The sentencing guidelines listed a number of potentially aggravating features, almost all of which were present in the instant case. In the aggregate, those featured substantially aggravated the offence in question. Whist it was accepted that the offence involved a single breach of the restraining order, in assessing the gravity of the offence, regard had to be had to the preceding breaches because of the incremental and compounding suffering of Y, caused by the further breach. The primary aim of sentencing in the instant context was to ensure future compliance with the order and the protection of the victim in whose interests the order was made. It followed that the judge had been entitled to conclude that the defendant would not have been made to comply with the retraining order by anything other than a prison sentence. Accordingly, it was a proper case for the judge to impose a sentence well in excess of the range recommended in the guidelines.