Sentence of killer driver to go to Court of Appeal

THE sentence handed to the killer of Corey and Casper Platt-May has been referred to the Court of Appeal.

Robert Brown was jailed for nine years after pleading guilty to causing the boys’ death by dangerous driving in Coventry earlier this year.

However, the sentence was referred to the Attorney General’s office to consider the matter under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

And now the Telegraph can reveal that the case has been sent on to the Court of Appeal where top judges will decide whether or not it should be changed.

A spokesman for the Solicitor General - part of the Attorney General’s office - said: “After careful consideration, the Solicitor General referred the case of Robert Brown to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

“We await a date for the hearing.”

Brown was high on cocaine when he drove his Ford Focus into six-year-old Corey and his younger brother Casper, two, in Longfellow Road, Stoke, on February 22.

The 53-year-old, of Attwood Crescent, Wyken, later admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, as well as driving while disqualified and having no insurance and or a valid licence.

The judge who handed down Brown’s sentence, Judge Andrew Lockhart, said that he would have served 12 years behind bars had the case gone to trial, but ordered him to serve nine years imprisonment after having a quarter knocked off for his guilty plea.

It has also been announced today that the inquest into death of Corey and Casper’s father, Reece Platt-May, who was found dead in a Greek hotel on May 17, will take place tomorrow.

While only the judge can explain precisely why he landed at the final sentence of nine years, we are able to shed some light on the guidelines he has to adhere by.

Sentencing guidelines dictate that sentences at the most serious level of the charge causing death by dangerous driving - have a starting point of eight years in prison with a range from seven to 14 years.

Moving from the starting point, the judge then has to take in to account any aggravating or mitigating factors.

Aggravating factors include: previous convictions, more than one person killed, other offences committed at the same time and the offender leaving the scene.

Conversely, mitigating factors include: the victim being a close friend or family member, the offender being seriously injured, lack of driving experience, or was the driving in response to a genuine emergency.

Once the judge has added or taken away time for those factors, they must then consider if a guilty plea was entered and, if so, when.

If a guilty plea was entered at the first possible opportunity (initial hearing in magistrates’ court) then a reduction of one-third is taken off the sentence.

If the guilty plea is entered after the first magistrates’ hearing, but is then done so at the first crown court hearing, a reduction of one-quarter is applied.

In Brown’s case, his sentence had he been convicted after trial would have been 12 years, but this was reduced to nine years (a quarter reduction) due to his guilty plea entered at the first crown court hearing.

Rebecca Hearsey, specialist lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing the boys’ parents, Louise and Reece, said: “We often see first-hand the devastation and heartbreak that is caused by the reckless and selfish actions of drivers such as Robert Brown who pose a real danger on our roads.

“Judges are hamstrung by current sentencing tariffs and many people will be shocked by the apparent lenient sentence that Robert Brown has received.

“While it is sadly too late for Corey and Casper’s family and many other families that have been ripped apart because of drivers who kill or seriously injure loved ones, we hope that the tragic deaths of Corey and Casper highlight the need for judges to be allowed to impose more stringent sentences in such cases if they deem appropriate.

“We welcome the Ministry of Justice’s proposals to introduce tougher sentences and would ask that these proposals are turned into law at the earliest possible opportunity.

“Hopefully they will act as a deterrent and help motorists to think about the consequences of their actions, so the number of people killed or badly injured on our roads reduces.”