Causing grievous bodily harm with intent to do grievous bodily harm / Wounding with intent to do GBH

s.18 Offences Against the Person Act 1861 · Crown Court

Sentencing framework

The guideline outlines a systematic approach for sentencing individuals convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Sentencers assess culpability and harm to determine the appropriate offence category, from which a starting point for sentencing is established. The guideline includes statutory aggravating and mitigating factors that can influence the final sentence, including previous convictions and personal circumstances.

Maximum sentence

Life imprisonment

Court

Crown Court

Starting point

12 years’ custody

Offence range

2 – 16 years’ custody

Aggravating factors

·Previous convictions
·Offence committed whilst on bail
·Offence motivated by hostility based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or transgender identity
·Offence against an emergency worker
·Offence against a person providing a public service
·Offence committed in a domestic abuse context

Mitigating factors

·No previous convictions or no relevant/recent convictions
·Remorse
·Positive character and/or exemplary conduct
·Significant degree of provocation
·Age and/or lack of maturity
·Mental disorder or learning disability, where not linked to the commission of the offence
·Sole or primary carer for dependent relative(s)
·Determination and/or demonstration of steps taken to address addiction or offending behaviour
·Serious medical conditions requiring urgent, intensive or long-term treatment
·Pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal care
·Difficult and/or deprived background or personal circumstances
·Prospects of or in work, training or education

Sentencing range explorer

Select the culpability level and harm category to see the guideline's starting point and category range. This is an educational illustration of the published guideline — not a sentence calculation, and not legal advice. Courts apply the full step-by-step process, aggravating and mitigating factors, and the totality principle.

Culpability

Harm

Select a culpability level and a harm category above.

The sentencing process, step by step

Step 1 — Determining the offence category
Step 2 — Starting point and category range
Step 3 — Consider any other factors which indicate a reduction, such as assistance to the prosecution
Step 4 — Reduction for guilty pleas
Step 5 — Dangerousness
Step 6 — Totality principle
Step 7 — Compensation and ancillary orders
Step 8 — Reasons
Step 9 — Consideration for time spent on bail (tagged curfew)

Guideline notes

Sentencers should be aware that there is evidence of a disparity in sentence outcomes for this offence which indicates that for Black and Asian offenders immediate custodial sentence lengths have on average been longer than for White, Mixed and Chinese or Other ethnicity offenders.

Always read the full guideline

This is a one-page summary. For any live case, sentencing exercise, or legal advice the authoritative source is the Sentencing Council's own definitive guideline — including the category bands, step-by-step sentencing approach, and all statutory factors not captured here.

Open the full guideline on sentencingcouncil.org.uk

Source: Sentencing Council · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-28. Not legal advice — see a regulated adviser for any live case.