## Facts

- Multiple defendants convicted of rape or attempted rape appealed or sought leave to appeal their custodial sentences.
- The appellate court listed the matters together to provide general guidance to trial judges on sentencing for rape and attempted rape by adult offenders.
- The court noted an increase in the severity and brutality of rape cases coming before it, prompting a recalibration of sentencing practice.
- The court’s analysis focused on establishing baseline “starting points” and identifying relevant sentencing factors rather than providing a single unified factual narrative.

## Issues

1. What custodial sentence “starting points” should guide sentencing for adult rape (and attempted rape) across typical and aggravated categories?
2. What aggravating and mitigating factors may properly increase or reduce sentence in rape cases?
3. Which considerations are irrelevant and must not reduce sentence, particularly regarding the complainant’s conduct and sexual history?
4. When are very long determinate sentences or life imprisonment appropriate for rape?

## Decision

- The court issued guideline sentencing ranges, using numeric starting points as the baseline for adult rape sentences in contested cases.
- For a rape by an adult without aggravating or mitigating features, the starting point was set at 5 years’ imprisonment.
- For heightened-seriousness categories—including (i) group rape, (ii) entry into the victim’s home, (iii) abuse of a position of responsibility, or (iv) abduction and captivity—the starting point was set at 8 years.
- For offenders conducting a “campaign of rape” against multiple victims, a sentence of 15 years or more could be appropriate.
- Where the offender displayed conditions indicating indefinite dangerousness to women (e.g., psychopathic tendencies or gross personality disorder), life imprisonment could be appropriate.
- The court treated these figures as starting points only, requiring adjustment for aggravating and mitigating circumstances in the individual case.
- In disposing of the consolidated matters, the court made case-specific orders on the various sentences, applying the guideline framework.

## Legal Principles

- Rape by an adult ordinarily warrants an immediate custodial sentence; non-custodial outcomes are exceptional.
- Sentencing for rape should proceed from structured starting points reflecting seriousness, then be adjusted for case-specific aggravation and mitigation.
- Aggravating factors include, among others: additional violence; use of a weapon; repeated rape; planning; prior convictions; sexual degradation or perversions; victims who are very young or very old; and serious psychological or physical effects on the victim.
- Mitigating factors include, among others: a guilty plea; prior good character; and (in limited circumstances) complainant behavior that caused the offender to believe there would be consent.
- The complainant’s prior sexual experience and “imprudence” or lack of caution are irrelevant to sentence and must not reduce punishment.

## Conclusion

The court established a structured guideline framework for sentencing adult rape and attempted rape, anchored by numeric starting points and refined by defined aggravating and mitigating factors, while excluding victim sexual history and “imprudence” from consideration in mitigation and recognizing life imprisonment for offenders presenting indefinite danger.


R. v. Billam & Other Appeals & Applications, [1986] 1 All E.R. 985 (Eng. C.A. Crim. Div. 1986)