R v Julie Evans

Facts

The offender, a woman of 47 with no previous convictions, had been in an on-and-off relationship with the victim, Mr Strudwick, for about seven months, and both regularly used cocaine. In the early hours of 5 November 2024 he agreed to lend her £40 to buy cocaine and gave her his bank card. She withdrew £40 with the card without telling him, then also took £40 in cash from him. They used the drugs together. When he found the withdrawal, they exchanged abusive messages, in which he threatened to smash up her house if she did not repay him. At about 6.15 am she returned to his home, pushed him into his armchair, punched him repeatedly to the head, threatened to stab him and struck him with a plastic perfume bottle and a television remote control. She then took two rings, one his late wife's engagement ring, and his wallet. He suffered bruising, cuts and a fractured nose. She pleaded guilty to robbery in the Crown Court at Cambridge on 3 March 2026. On 1 April 2026 HHJ Lowe placed the offence in category 2B of the Domestic Robbery Guideline, reduced the five-year starting point to three years for mitigation, gave full credit for the plea and imposed two years' imprisonment suspended for two years, with 300 hours of unpaid work, a rehabilitation activity requirement and a five-year restraining order. The Solicitor General sought leave to refer the sentence as unduly lenient under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.