Skondin v The Queen

The applicant, Skondin, sought leave to appeal against his sentence imposed following a guilty plea to armed robbery and a conviction following trial by jury for malicious wounding. Skondin's sentence for armed robbery was partially cumulative upon his sentence for malicious wounding. However, the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed his conviction for the malicious wounding charge and entered a verdict of not guilty on that charge, subsequently quashing the sentence for malicious wounding. Skondin applied for the commencement date of his sentence for armed robbery to be adjusted to the date of his original sentence for malicious wounding.

The court was required to determine whether the principle of totality and the sentencing discretion of the first instance judge warranted an adjustment to the commencement date of Skondin's sentence for armed robbery. The court also needed to consider whether the armed robbery was committed while Skondin was subject to a parole order, which was an aggravating feature, and whether the parole had been revoked.

The court concluded that the principle of totality and the sentencing discretion of the first instance judge did not support adjusting the commencement date of Skondin's sentence for armed robbery. The court held that the revocation of parole was a function of the Parole Board and not the court. Furthermore, the court found that the custody referable to the armed robbery and malicious wounding charges only applied to those charges and not any other potential charges. The court denied Skondin's application for leave to appeal against his sentence.

The court refused Skondin's application for leave to appeal against his sentence and upheld the sentence imposed for armed robbery.