The face of one of the most important Supreme Court cases in recent history has been sentenced
Ameen Jogee, the man at the centre of last year’s joint enterprise doctrine overhaul, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for manslaughter.
As readers may remember, Jogee was the face of one of the most important Supreme Court cases in recent history.
In 2012, the then 22-year-old was convicted of the murder of ex-policeman Paul Fyfe. It was reported Jogee had egged on his co-defendant, Mohammed Hirsi, to stab the victim after a row at Fyfe’s girlfriend’s house.
Though he had not inflicted the fatal stab wound, Jogee was found guilty of murder alongside Hirsi under the doctrine of joint enterprise. The doctrine states participants in a joint criminal enterprise will be criminally liable for the harm that results from that enterprise.
Jogee, in prison for murder at the time, fought his conviction all the way to the highest court in the country.
With help from legal dream team Felicity Gerry QC and Adam Wagner, Jogee managed to convince the justices that the doctrine had been wrongly interpreted for over 30 years. This prompted a vital change in the common law and also a criminal law syllabus makeover.
However, the justices did not overturn Jogee’s conviction. He was sent for a retrial at Nottingham Crown Court, and his fate was sealed last week when a jury found him not guilty of murder. Instead, the jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter, which carries with it a discretionary sentence.
The killer returned to court this morning for sentencing before His Honour Judge Dickinson QC. At his original trial, Jogee was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years; today, he received a 12-year sentence.
However, it’s worth bearing in mind he may only serve half of that sentence (six years) if he behaves himself in prison and — because Jogee has already served over five years on murder charges — he could be out of prison in a year, something we’re sure will aggravate tabloid newspapers.