When sentencing an offender for theft, criminality could not be assessed solely by reference to the circumstances of the particular offence, but had to be considered in light of the offender's extensive record of theft-related convictions. On that basis, although the two-year imprisonment sentence imposed for a single theft offence was severe, it was deliberately designed to be so, and it was properly open to the judge to impose it.

CA (Crim Div) (Davis LJ, Silber J, Openshaw J)

27/03/2013