Criminal appeal allowed; four-year sentence for unlawful revolver carrying reduced to three years due to excessive severity.
Cipro (CY)
Sintesi Legislator
Generato dall'IAThe Supreme Court allowed the appellant's appeal against a four-year prison sentence for unlawfully carrying a revolver. The court found the Assize Court had unduly emphasized the seriousness of the offense while failing to sufficiently consider the offender's age, marital status, and first-time status. Consequently, the sentence was reduced to three years as it was deemed manifestly excessive under the circumstances.
Regesto Legislator
Generato dall'IASection 4 of the Firearms Law, Cap. 57; A sentence for unlawful firearm carrying is manifestly excessive if the court gives undue weight to the offense's gravity while neglecting the offender's specific mitigating circumstances, requiring individualized sentencing.
Parole chiave
Generato dall'IADisposizioni normative citate
Generato dall'IAGiurisprudenza citata
Generato dall'IADecisioni correlate
Generato dall'IATesto completo
[*1321] 1971 December 7
(TRIANTAFYLLIDES, P., L. ;LOIZOU, HADJIANASTASSIOU, JJ.)
APPELLATE JURISDICTION
Yiannis Georghiou Papageorghiou,
Appellant,
v.
The Republic,
Respondent.
(Criminal Appeal No.3298).
Criminal Law - Sentence - Pour years' imprisonment for carrying a revolver - Section 4 of the Firearms Law, Cap. 57 - Undue weight given to seriousness of offence and not enough weight to considerations concerning the offender - Sentence manifestly excessive - Reduced.
Firearms - Revolver - Unlawful carrying
- Sentence.
A. Emilianides, for the Appellant.
Cl. Antoniades, Senior Counsel of the Republic, for the Respondent.
JUDGMENT
The judgment of the Court was delivered by:-
TRIANTAFYLLIDES, P.: The appellant appeals [*1322] against the sentence of four years' imprisonment which was passed
upon him by an Assize Court in Famagusta in respect of the offence of carrying unlawfully a revolver, contrary to section 4 of the Firearms Law, Cap. 37.
His counsel has submitted that the sentence is manifestly excessive in the light of all the relevant circumstances. Counsel for the respondent has stated that had it not been for the prevalence of the offence concerned he would agree that the sentence is manifestly excessive.
There can be no doubt that the unlawful carrying of a firearm is, unfortunately, a not uncommon offence and that, in view of the rather anomalous situation still prevailing in our country, it has to be faced with due severity; but, in assessing sentence, in this case due regard ought to be paid also to the circumstances of the particular offence and to the nature of the particular offender (see, for examples Evangelou v. The Police, (1970) 5 J.S.C. 416 at p. 420).
It has been very fairly stated by counsel for the respondent that the appellant was carrying the revolver in question without any intention to use it for any specific purpose.
The appellant is a young man, twenty-four years old, married, and his wife is expecting a baby shortly. He is a first offender.
We formed the view, on the basis of
the reasons given by the trial Court for passing on the appellant a [*1323] sentence of four years' imprisonment, that undue weight was given
to the seriousness of the offence and not enough weight to considerations concerning the appellant. It appears that the Assize Court has assessed the sentence by generalizing too much regarding the nature of the offence and not by individualizing sufficiently the sentence in relation to an offender who had committed a particular offence.
We have decided, without wishing in any way to be misunderstood that we take a lenient view of the kind of offence with which we are concerned in this case, that the sentence appealed from is manifestly excessive and that it is proper to reduce it to three years' imprisonment as from the date of the conviction. This appeal is, therefore, allowed accordingly.
Appeal allowed.