Middleton & Anor, R v [2005] EWHC 1236 (QB)

[2005] EWHC 1236 (QB)Case No MTR/223/2004Case No MTR/944/2004
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
Venue Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LLDate 15 th June 2005
Before
MRS JUSTICE GLOSTER, DBE
Between
ReginaClaimantAndrew David Middleton &Craig John BauerDefendants
JudgmentMrs Justice Gloster, DBE:
[1]On 27 May 2005, pursuant to applications made by the applicants Middleton and Bauer under paragraph 3 of Schedule 22 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 for a review of the respective terms of imprisonment notified to them by the Home Secretary as the minimum terms which they must serve before release on licence, I handed down judgments in relation to these two applicants. Each of the applicants had been sentenced to serve a sentence of mandatory life imprisonment for murder.[2]My decision in respect of the applicant Middleton was in the following terms:
“In my judgment, taking into account all relevant considerations the appropriate minimum term to impose on the applicant is 10 years as recommended by the Lord Chief Justice, less the 14 months 2 days which he spent in custody on remand.”
[3]Similarly, in respect of the applicant Bauer:
“In my judgment taking all relevant considerations into account, the appropriate minimum term to impose on this applicant is likewise that he should serve 10 years as recommended by the Lord Chief Justice, less the 12 months two day period he spent in custody on remand.”
[4]Subsequently, by a letter dated 3rd June 2005, the National Offender Management Service notified the LIMIT section of HM Court Service that the information previously provided to the court, and upon which my decision had been made, was erroneous. The letter notified the Court that the applicant Middleton had in fact only served 68 days on remand and that the applicant Bauer had only spent three days in custody, in the period between conviction and sentencing.[5]In the light of this information, it becomes appropriate for me to revise my earlier decision. Accordingly, I order, for the reasons set out in my judgment of 27th May, that the appropriate minimum term to impose upon the applicant Middleton is 10 years, less the 68 days he spend in custody on remand; and, in the case of the applicant Bauer, that the appropriate minimum term should be 10 years less the three days spent in custody.