Judge criticised for lenient sentence

A judge has been condemned for not jailing a man who pulled an imitation gun on a train steward.

The Court of Appeal criticised Mr Recorder Boothby for his "wholly inappropriate" remarks when sentencing Scott Houghton, 20, and for letting him off with a fine.

Houghton, of Westcombe, Somerset drew an unloaded BB air pistol on a buffet steward during a row about a sweets trolley blocking the train's gangway.

When he was arrested after getting off the train at Sherborne, Dorset he told police it was "a joke" and accused the steward of over-reacting.

There was nothing amusing about what happened, certainly not in the opinion of the victims

Lord Justice Mantell

At Dorchester Crown Court in April, Mr Recorder Boothby fined Houghton £100 plus £50 costs after he pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm.

The judge told him that other judges would have wanted to make an example of him but added: "Luckily, you have drawn someone with a modest sense of humour."

The Attorney General referred the case to the Court of Appeal and three appeal judges agreed that Houghton should have been jailed for at least 18 months.

'A mistake'

But they decided it was not now in the public interest to send Houghton to jail and instead ordered him to do 200 hours of community service.

Lord Justice Mantell said the fine was "a mistake" and criticised the judge's remarks.

He said: "There was nothing amusing about what happened, certainly not in the opinion of the victims or other passengers on the train."

He added: "But we want to make it absolutely plain that in the ordinary way it would only be appropriate to impose a custodial sentence in cases of this kind."