The Court of Appeal has dismissed Samy Taib’s appeal against the severity of sentences for assaults and coercive control against a former partner and a separate episode of dangerous driving. The court said the sentences imposed by the Circuit Court were not unduly severe, taking account of the seriousness of the offences and the reductions already made for Taib’s age and mental health.
The Circuit Court imposed consecutive sentences on two indictments: three years for the assault and coercive control case, and two years for the driving case. The final 12 months of one sentence were suspended for two years, subject to conditions. The result was four years in custody if the suspended portion remained in effect.
The first indictment involved assaults and coercive control during a relationship that began in 2018. Taib pleaded guilty to three counts on a full-facts basis, with other counts taken into consideration. The sentencing judge also considered a victim impact statement describing lasting physical and psychological effects.
The second indictment concerned 24 road-traffic counts arising from a roughly 20-minute incident in October 2019. Taib pleaded guilty to four counts, including endangerment, driving without insurance and driving without a licence. Evidence described high-speed driving, wrong-way travel and forcing other motorists to take evasive action before the car crashed into a roundabout. No one was reported seriously injured. The court also noted previous road-traffic convictions and convictions for breaching barring orders.
Taib’s appeal focused on his youth and mental health. Psychiatric reports described paranoid schizophrenia diagnosed in Scotland in 2020, after the offences. The sentencing judge found his culpability was reduced by his mental condition and lowered the headline sentences on both indictments by one year before applying further mitigation.
The Court of Appeal said the reports supported the view that Taib’s disorder had likely been developing before diagnosis, but did not establish more precisely how it contributed to the assaults. The court accepted that he had not been aware of the potential for drug use to affect his mental condition beyond the average person. It said the sentencing judge had followed the applicable structured approach and that the one-year reductions were within her discretion.
The court described the offending as extremely serious and concluded that the total sentence, including the suspended term, was not unduly severe. The appeal was dismissed.