Advice please....appealing a sentence

[Clark1978]

In August 2015 I was convicted for Refusing to provide a specimen. This is my first offence. I pleaded guilty and represented my self in court. I was sentenced to 36mth driving ban, 12 week suspended prison sentence and community order of 200 hours. I have completed my rehabilitation course which means I receive my license back in December 2017, following a suitable medical assessment. I have completed the community order. This has all been a bit of blurry year for me and am really just getting to grips with all that has happened. I wrote to the CPS to receive my case files as despite being guilty I feel my sentence was very harsh, I've looked into how to appeal but don't think I can as obviously this is way past the 21 day deadline. I can't afford to hire a solicitor and pay a one off lump sum but really do want to challenge the sentence. Is there anything, anything I could do or advice you could offer on what my options could be? Many thanks in advance.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

I'm afraid the primary difficulty that you face is the time frame since the sentence was imposed. As you correctly say, the time frame in which you have an automatic right of appeal is only 21 days. Whilst it is possible to appeal outside this time frame it is incredibly difficult to do so after 12 months has passed. The Court would want to know why it has taken so long for any appeal to be lodged and it is likely that they would refuse to allow this to proceed any further based upon the time frames involved.

That being said if you wish to proceed down this route the relevant form can be found online here https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/criminal/docs/crimpr-part63-appealnotice.pdf You would need to lodge this form with the Magistrates Court who imposed the sentence last year.

 

[Clark1978]

Thank you very much. I shall seriously consider this route. I was convicted in Leamington Spa Court although my case was moved to my local court (Northamptonshire) I imagine for probation etc. Would it be possible to apply to Northamptonshire Crown Court to appeal? I really would rather not have to go back to Leamington ever again, as beautiful as it is! And also I attended court and pleaded guilty from the outset however having read some of the evidence in the case against me I question a few of the witness statements personal opinions on subjective matters - now I understand time has elapsed however this has been my only chance to carefully study the evidence having just received the CPS data. I was faced with statements on day at court but was never given any of it to take with me therefore my request under FOI, which took so long to arrive. I went to court to admit guilt and felt representation wasn't required. Do I have any case for a Re-opening request under Section 142? I feel a fool and naive to what can happen without legal representation. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. My thanks in advance.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

In respect of appealing your case, there are two different types of appeal, one is an appeal against sentence and the second is an appeal against your conviction. From your initial post I was under the impression that you were looking to appeal against your sentence as you felt this was excessive in the circumstances. In itself this would be an incredibly difficult application, however if you are looking to appeal against conviction this will be nigh on impossible in the circumstances.

There is quite a significant amount of complex case law covering the circumstances in which someone can appeal against conviction if they have previously entered a guilty plea. In short, it is incredibly restrictive regarding the circumstances in which this would be allowed, and normally requires you to have been misadvised in your case. The Court's position is generally that if a defendant has pleaded guilty to the offence then it is because they accept they have committed the offence. Even if subsequently it transpires that there may have been an issue with some of the evidence, it will normally be insufficient to convince the Court to allow an appeal against conviction to proceed. You would then also have to factor in the issue regarding the time frame since the original hearing.

Based upon the information provided I do not believe that the Court would be willing to consider the re-opening of the case under section 142. As the matter was dealt with at two different Courts you would be best served speaking to the Court to ascertain where you would need to submit your appeal notice and where the appeal hearing would take place.