David Langwallner recently secured a substantial reduction in the sentence of a man convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The Court of Appeal agreed that the sentencing judge in the court below had failed to properly evaluate the implications of a psychological report which had confirmed a diagnosis of autism; the judge had further failed to properly engage with the implications of previous abuse suffered by the defendant, which may have caused him to misconstrue the complainant’s intentions. The Court accordingly reduced David’s client’s sentence from 11 years’ imprisonment to 8 years’ imprisonment.
