Sentence appeal can be abandoned at calling
Appeal court clears up confusion from past decisions
It is not too late to abandon an appeal against sentence at the point when the appeal calls in court for a hearing, a full bench of the appeal court ruled yesterday.
Five judges led by Lord Justice Clerk Gill overruled the 1980 case of Ferguson and held that an appellant had the right to abandon up to the point when a hearing began.
After that point abandonment requires leave of the court - with the possibility that the court will refuse leave and instead decide to increase the sentence.
The court approved the earlier case of West which had followed this approach, in preference to Ferguson.
The decision can be read at http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/2006HCJAC14.html .
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