Men face months on remand at HMP Preston before sentencing after judge orders psychiatric report
Three men who have spent months on remand in prison have been told they must stay behind bars for another six weeks before they can be sentenced for their part in a violent incident in Lancashire.
A judge at Preston Crown Court refused to split the trio up after being told two of them were ready to be dealt with, but the other needs a psychiatric report before his fate can be decided.
Connor Shaw, 25, of Eastern Avenue, Burnley and 30-year-old Tajoun Baptiste, from Oak Street, Burnley, have both pleaded guilty to affray and were expected to be sentenced this week.
Their barristers urged Recorder Mark Shepherd to deal with them without further delay while the case against 21-year-old Arran McLarrie, of Moseley Street, Nelson, who faces more serious charges of robbery, is adjourned to await a psychiatric assessment.
But the judge said he felt all three should be dealt with together and postponed sentence until April 10.
“It is a matter of considerable regret that we can’t achieve sentence today,” he told the trio.
“I have considered if I can do that, but my judgement is that these offences were committed together. Although these are different offences this is part of one (case). It would be, in my judgement, inappropriate to split the sentencing.”
Shaw’s defence barrister, Georgia Kennedy-Curnow, told the judge that her client had been in prison on remand for almost nine months for an offence (affray) with a sentence starting point of just 12 months.
With prisoners only serving up to half of their sentence and also getting time knocked off for an early guilty plea she said: “He is double time-served – he is dangerously close to that figure.”
Mark Stephenson, defending McLarrie, said his client had agreed to co-operate with a psychiatrist in prison, despite missing an interview previously. Meanwhile he was finding life difficult on remand in HMP Preston.
“I have explained the importance of a psychiatric report to him. He now understands it could assist him greatly. He is and has been a young man blighted by a number of undiagnosed psychiatric illnesses.”
Recorder Shepherd said he believed “on balance and in the interest of justice” it was necessary to adjourn sentence for all three men. He added he had considered bail for Shaw and Baptiste but had decided not to change the status of any of the accused.
He told McLarrie that in his case adjourning the hearing was the right thing to do to give him the opportunity to co-operate with a psychiatry report.
“It is very much in your interests to do that. You didn’t attend the last meeting and you should have done,” he said.