Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the sentence delivered in the case of R v Broadhurst in December 2018.

The Attorney General’s Office received a number of referrals under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) Scheme for the case of R v Broadhurst.

The Law Officers can only refer a sentence as unduly lenient if there has been a “gross error” resulting in the sentence being significantly below the level that any judge could reasonably have imposed. The power is one that should only be used in exceptional circumstances and it is not an automatic prosecution right of appeal.

After reviewing the case I am satisfied that the judge approached the sentencing in the correct way and I have concluded that the sentence was not outside the range of sentences that were reasonably available to the judge. It would therefore not be right for me to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.

Sentencing is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice while charging decisions are an independent matter for the Crown Prosecution Service.