Crime News: Client given 12 month sentence for possession of ID document with improper intention

Samir’s client from China was charged with one count of Possession of ID document with improper intention, specifically the use of a passport belonging to someone else, to enter the United Kingdom.

At the sentence hearing at Birmingham Crown Court, Samir made mitigation submissions pointing out that his client had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and had no ‘malign’ intention in using the ID document. As there are no specific sentencing guidelines for this offence reliance was therefore placed on case law authorities to put forward indications of what the sentence should be, considering that the maximum sentence was 10 years’ imprisonment.

The Court sentenced the client to 12 months’ imprisonment, which was on a lower end of the potential sentencing scale.