Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

Armed Forces Act 2006 (c. 52)

2 After section 218 and the italic heading “Required or discretionary sentences for particular offences” insert—

“218A Life sentence for second listed offence

(1) This section applies where—

(a) a person aged 18 or over is convicted by the Court Martial of an offence under section 42 (criminal conduct);

(b) the corresponding offence under the law of England and Wales is an offence listed in Part 1 of Schedule 15B to the 2003 Act;

(c) the offence was committed after this section comes into force; and

(d) the sentence condition and the previous offence condition are met.

(2) Section 224A(2) of the 2003 Act applies in relation to the offender.

(3) In section 224A(2)(a) of that Act as applied by subsection (2)—

(a) the reference to “the offence” is to be read as a reference to the offence under section 42; and

(b) the reference to “the previous offence referred to in subsection (4)” is to be read as a reference to the previous offence referred to in subsection (5) of this section.

(4) The sentence condition is that, but for this section, the Court Martial would, in compliance with sections 260(2) and 261(2), impose a sentence of imprisonment for 10 years or more, disregarding any extension period imposed under section 226A of the 2003 Act as applied by section 219A of this Act.

(5) The previous offence condition is that—

(a) at the time the offence under section 42 was committed, the offender had been convicted of an offence listed in Schedule 15B to the 2003 Act (“the previous offence”); and

(b) a relevant life sentence or a relevant sentence of imprisonment or detention for a determinate period was imposed on the offender for the previous offence.

(6) A sentence is relevant for the purposes of subsection (5)(b) if it would be relevant for the purposes of section 224A(4)(b) of the 2003 Act (see subsections (5) to (10) of that section).

(7) A sentence required to be imposed by section 224A(2) of that Act as a result of this section is not to be regarded as a sentence fixed by law.”