High Court of Malawi - 1997 December

5 judgments
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Results. 5 judgments found.

5 judgments
December 1997
Multiple burglaries by a young first offender warrant modest premium on sentences; an 8-year term was substituted with 4 years.
  • Criminal law — Sentencing — Burglary — Multiple offences in quick succession — Sentencing premium for multiplicity — Effect of guilty plea, youth and first-offender status — Substitution of manifestly excessive sentence
31 December 1997
Court reduced a manifestly excessive five-year sentence for minor motel theft to immediate release.
  • Criminal law — Sentencing — Manifestly excessive sentence — Theft by a lodger — First offenders — Low-value property — Reduction to time served
16 December 1997
Court reduced an excessive eight-year sentence for the defendant’s cultivation of 7kg of Indian hemp to two years' hard labour.
  • Dangerous Drugs Act — cultivation of Indian hemp — sentencing — quantity 7 kg — applicability of possession sentencing guidelines (Republic v
  • Wilson) — manifestly excessive sentence reduced
12 December 1997
Court reduced burglary sentence, holding post-offence escape isn't a prior conviction and uncharged injuries cannot justify harsher sentencing.
  • Criminal law — Sentencing — Burglary starting point (six years) — Previous conviction — escape from custody not a prior offence if committed after the principal offence — Sentencing: limits on using uncharged offences (injuries) as basis for harsher sentence
11 December 1997
A three-year sentence for stealing a recovered bicycle was manifestly excessive and reduced to eighteen months' imprisonment.
  • Criminal law — Sentencing — Theft of bicycle — Manifestly excessive sentence — Relevance of recovery, condition of property and third-party loss — Guideline sentence: ~18 months with hard labour (Regina v Paulo)
10 December 1997