Sentencing sex offenders and the Sentencing Young People guideline: a critical examination of the decision in CA v HM Advocate – Part 3: questions of punishment, proportionality and the credibility of the courts

In the last of a series of three articles on the decision in CA v HM Advocate [2024]
HCJAC 29, in which the appeal court applied the Sentencing Young People guideline to a case involving historic child sex offences committed by the 24 year old appellant, the author applies the relevant English sentencing guidelines, and the recent Scottish Sentencing Council’s draft guidelines, to the offences. The author concludes that the court in CA should have departed from the Sentencing Young People guideline in order to impose a proportionate sentence on the appellant, commensurate with the seriousness of the offences.