Types of Sentence

Once an offender is convicted the court will decide how to sentence them.

In this article we give a whistle stop tour of the different types of sentence available to the Magistrates' Court. This is a very broad subject, so we cannot possibly cover every single angle. That said, we hope to cover the most pertinent points. We shall cover the actual process of sentencing in a future article.

There are four general types of sentence:

• Discharge;
• Fine;
• Community;
• Custody.

Depending on the offence, the court sometimes makes ancillary orders to stand alongside the sentence imposed - for example, the court might order the forfeiture and destruction of seized drugs, it might impose a restraining order against an individual or it might disqualify them from driving.

If the court is considering a community or custody band sentence it will often ask the probation service to prepare a pre-sentence report (PSR) on the offender to gauge their suitability for such a punishment.

Discharges:

Discharges tend to be reserved for the disposal of the most minor of offences. They are sometimes given where the court believes the offence needs to be formally marked, but is not serious enough to merit any other punishment. There are two types of discharge:

• Absolute discharge: This is where the court marks the offence, but imposes no further requirements on the defendant. This might be appropriate in cases where an offence has technically been committed, but the court considers it unjust to impose a financial penalty - here is a good example of such a case involving freegans being convicted of the theft of out of date food from a supermarket bin. Quite why the CPS instituted proceedings in that particular case remains a mystery.
• Conditional discharge: This is more serious than an absolute discharge, because it places an onus on the offender to keep out of trouble for up to 3 years. If they reoffend during the discharge period then they can be resentenced for their original offence as well as the new one.

Fines:

Fines are by far the most common sentence imposed by the Magistrates' Court. The level of fine is determined by the nature of the offence and the offender's ability to pay. A series of fine bands and ranges are used for this purpose, but we will write about those in a future article.

The maximum fine that can be imposed for a particular offence is defined by law. The court cannot impose a fine exceeding that value. Certain offences can attract an unlimited fine.

Whenever a fine is imposed the court will agree payment terms with the offender. Normally a collection order is made, which means the offender will be liable to pay the full outstanding balance if they default on the payment terms. The court could also instruct bailiffs to recover the debt.

Non-payment of fines is a very serious matter, which can lead to the offender being imprisoned. Anyone struggling to pay their fines should contact the fines office at the earliest opportunity.

Community:

Community sentences are reserved for offences of a serious nature, but not so serious to attract a custodial sentence.

A community sentence combines punishment with activities carried out in the community. It can include one or more of 13 requirements on an offender. This could be carrying out up to 300 hours of unpaid work, which might include things like removing graffiti or clearing overgrown areas.

It could also mean the offender is required to have alcohol or drug treatment - this aims to tackle the reasons why they have committed crimes. Offenders might also be required to keep to a curfew, which aims to keep them out of trouble.

Overall, the requirements aim to punish offenders, to change offenders' behaviour so they don’t commit crime in the future, and to make amends to the victim of the crime or the local community.

The full list of requirements are:

• Unpaid work for up to 300 hours;
• Rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) undertaking activities as instructed;
• Undertaking a particular programme to help change offending behaviour;
• Prohibition from doing particular activities;
• Adherence to a curfew, so the offender is required to be in a particular place at certain times;
• An exclusion requirement, so that the offender is not allowed to go to particular places;
• A residence requirement so that the offender is obliged to live at a particular address;
• A foreign travel prohibition requirement;
• Mental health treatment with the offender's consent;
• A drug rehabilitation requirement with the offender's consent;
• An alcohol treatment requirement with the offender's consent
• An alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement with the offender's consent
• Where offenders are under 25, they may be required to go to an attendance centre at specific times over the course of their sentence.

Custody:

Custodial sentences are reserved for those offences that are so serious that no other punishment will do.

A custodial sentence could also be imposed on an offender who has shown disregard for earlier community sentences.

In the adult Magistrates' Court, which this article is primarily concerned with, a period of custody is known as imprisonment. The court can impose an immediate custodial sentence, where the offender is sent straight to prison, or a suspended custodial sentence, where the offender will only be sent to prison if they re-offend during the operational period of the suspended sentence order (SSO). You can read more about the activation of SSOs in a different article.

The maximum term of imprisonment that can be imposed for a particular offence is defined by law. The court cannot impose a period of imprisonment exceeding that value. In any event, the Magistrates' Court cannot impose a custodial sentence of more than 6 months' imprisonment (for a single summary offence) or 12 months' imprisonment (for a single or multiple either way offences).

If an offender commits another offence during the operational period of an SSO, then the court can activate that suspended period of custody in addition to any new sentence imposed. Cumulatively, this can result in an offender having to serve more time in custody than the 6 or 12 month limit that normally applies.

If the Magistrates/District Judge considered their powers insufficient for sentencing an either way offender, they could commit the matter to the Crown Court for sentencing.

Please see our earlier article for a description of summary and either way offences.