Sentencing — aggravated robbery — wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm — premeditated attack involving co-offender — multiple stab wounds — appropriate starting point for sentence. The defendant faced sentence on charges of aggravated robbery and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The defendant was with the victim when the defendant's co-offender arrived and threatened the victim with a knife and robbed him, as had been previously arranged with the defendant. The defendant and her co-offender then took control of the victim's car and attempted to force the victim to withdraw money from his account at an ATM. The victim managed to escape from the co-offender and drove away with the defendant still in his car. The defendant then stabbed the victim several times and tried to flee, but was apprehended and arrested soon afterwards. In a disputed facts hearing, the defendant had claimed that the victim had attacked her while driving away and that she had stabbed him in self-defence. The defendant nevertheless pleaded guilty to both the wounding and aggravated robbery charges, and the Judge rejected her claim to have acted in self-defence. At sentencing, the Judge reviewed the authorities and determined that where there are multiple charges involving serious violence, the charges must be combined to reach a starting point for sentencing. Given the degree of violence used in the wounding offence, and the fact that the defendant had been armed with two knives, the Judge set a starting point of seven years' imprisonment. The Judge held that the disputed facts with regard to the wounding charge meant that the defendant was not entitled to the maximum discount for her guilty pleas, because the victim had been subject to the pressure of giving evidence and being cross-examined. The Judge also held that the defendant was not genuinely remorseful, as she continued to maintain that she had wounded the victim in self-defence. However the Judge ruled that the defendant's early guilty pleas, age, and prospects for rehabilitation entitled her to a 20 percent discount on her sentence, and set a final sentence of five years and six months' imprisonment. Judgment Date: 17 January 2018