Man who stabbed acquaintance to death has sentence reviewed
Kristian Bailey has had his sentence increased following the Solicitor General's Unduly Lenient Sentence referral.
28-year-old Kristian Bailey – convicted of manslaughter in January 2019 after stabbing an acquaintance during a fight – has today had his sentence increased from 6 years to 8 years in prison after Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP referred it for being too low.
On the evening of 14 July 2018 Bailey stabbed victim Joe Jennings 5 times with a 13cm blade, inflicting a fatal wound to his heart, after a fight broke out while the two were sharing heroin.
27 years old at the time, Bailey fled the scene before disposing of the knife. Mr Jennings died at the scene. Witnesses noted that Mr Jennings hit Bailey with a wooden statue with sufficient force that it broke. Though it remains unclear how the fight started, or which of the two was the first to use a weapon, witnesses agreed that the fight was over in a matter of seconds.
Bailey was found guilty of manslaughter at Bristol Crown Court on 23 January 2019.
Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General said:
“Taking into account the seriousness of this offending, increasing the length of the sentence was necessary for justice to be done. I am pleased the Court of Appeal agreed and I hope that this brings some comfort to the victim’s family.”