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England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) Decisions >> Russell, R. v [2023] EWCA Crim 1080 (30 August 2023) URL: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2023/1080.html Cite as: [2023] EWCA Crim 1080 |
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CRIMINAL DIVISION
B e f o r e :
MRS JUSTICE TIPPLES
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| JAMIE MALCOLM MARTIN RUSSELL |
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Opus 2 International Ltd.
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MS S CUTTER appeared on behalf of the Respondent.
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Crown Copyright ©
LORD JUSTICE POPPLEWELL:
Hunter,
Atkinson
and
Mackinder
(1973) 57 Cr App R 772; R v Swindell (1981) 3 Cr App R (S) 255; R v Parry and McLean (1986) 8 Cr App R (S) 470; R v Skinner (Patrick and Ian) (1993) 14 Cr App R (S) 115; R v Godward [1998] 1 Cr App R (S) 385; R v Lang (Jack Thomas) [2001] EWCA Crim 2690, [2002] 2 Cr App R (S) 15; R v Sullivan (Frank) [2003] EWCA Crim 806, [2003] 2 Cr App R (S) 91; R v Gale (Colin) [2018] EWCA Crim 120, [2018] 4 WLR 132; and Attorney-General's Reference (R v Tarbox) [2021] EWCA Crim 224, [2021] Cr App R (S) 36.
(1) The offence of preventing a lawful and decent burial, like the similar common law offence of obstructing the coroner in the execution of their duty, is a serious one, which, save in exceptional circumstances, requires a custodial sentence. The harm involved usually includes the indignity and degradation caused to the deceased; the misery caused to the deceased's family and friends, resulting from anxiety whilst the person is missing, subsequent knowledge of the degrading circumstances following death, and the impact on the ability to have a decent funeral and burial; risks to health; and the prevention of an appropriate and timely investigation into the circumstances and cause of death. The offence involves a serious affront to public standards of decency.
(2) Where the crime has been committed with the intention of preventing an investigation into the cause of an unnatural death, for example, where the death is one for which the offender or another is responsible, the offence will fall at the more serious end of the scale, because it involves a deliberate obstruction of the course of justice and justifies a deterrent element (Godward). In such cases, sentences of the order of five to six years may be appropriate to mark the gravity of the offending before considering other aggravating and mitigating factors (Skinner, Lang).
(3) Where there is no such intention, but the body has been deliberately concealed and the police misled, sentences of about three years will be appropriate to mark the gravity of the offending before considering other aggravating and mitigating factors (Hunter, Swindale, Parry and McLean, Godward, Sullivan). Where there is no deliberate concealment, but merely a passive failure to report the death, the starting point will be in the range of 18 months to two years (King, Peddar). Other relevant factors relating to the offending will include the length of time for which the body remains undiscovered; conduct which assists or delays the discovery of the body; and the impact on the deceased's friends and family.