Sentencing 2 Flashcards
What is a Community Order?
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (as amended by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012) created one community order to which the courts can add any of 12 requirements which they think are necessary
This means that this type of order is tailored to each individual defendant
What are the main 4 Requirements that could be in a community order?
1) Unpaid work - requires the offender to carry out between 40-300 hours of unpaid work. The exact number is set by the court and will be monitored by the Probation Service. Painting schools, gardening and cleaning graffiti.
2) Curfew - an offender can be required to stay at an address for between 2-16 hours in any 24hr period. Enforced by electronic tagging for 6 months.
3) Programme - required to attend anger management programme as set out by Probation Service to address the offender’s inability to lose his temper.
4) Drug/Alcohol treatment - rehabilitation clinic to help deal with their addiction. Designed to reform and re-educate the offender.
What are other types of community order requirements?
-Attendance centre requirement
-Exclusion requirement
-Alcohol treatment requirement
-Mental health treatment requirement
-Residence requirement
-Supervision requirement
-Prohibited activity requirement
Activity requirement
-Drug rehabilitation requirement
What are fines?
Quick method of charging someone
These are the most common way of dealing with a case in the Magistrates Court.
What classification of offence would be most likely to be punished by a fine?
Speeding
Since March 2015 Magistrates and the Crown Court do not have a maximum limit. The fine will depend on the offender’s financial matters.
Paid to the state
What is a Victim Surcharge
Criminal Justice Act 2003 says that an offender must be ordered to pay an amount of money called Victim Surcharge. This goes into a national fund which pays for victim and witness services. Eg the Witness protection fund and Domestic Violence units.
What are the new Driving Offence sentences and where they come from?
These have been introduced by the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
Their aim is to protect the public.
Causing serious injury by dangerous driving:
Up to five years custodial sentence = protects other road users and general public on pavement
Careless / reckless driving:
Driving bans = protects other road users and general public by removing them from the road
What are aggravating factors?
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 sets out a lift of factors which will be considered to make an offence more serious and therefore the defendant more blameworthy. Such factors will increase the length of the sentence. These factors include:
- Abusing a position of trust
- Hostility shown towards race, religion, disability, sexual orientation
- Committing an offence whilst on bail
- V is vulnerable
- V’s injuries are serious
- Use of a weapon
- High level of intent
- Gang attack
What are mitigating factors?
Mitigating factors are those factors which render an offence less serious so D is seen as being less blameworthy. This will lessen a sentence. Examples include:
First time offender
- D is very old/young
- Showing remorse
- Guilty plea
- D has a difficult homelife
- D cooperates with the police
- D is keen to make amends
- D is vulnerable in some way
