The law, procedure and processes involved in magistrates' court and Crown Court trials, sentencing and appeals

Question 1

What 4 key events happen at the first hearing?

Answer 1

Classification of the offence.
Plead the defendant enters.
Level of details provided by the CPS of prosecution case.
Whether public/ private funding has been secured.

Question 2

What happens if a defendant pleads guilty to a summary only offence at the first hearing?

Answer 2

CPS will then tell mags the facts of the case . Solicitor will give plea in mitigation.

Mags either sentence straight away or adjoin if they need to deliberate.

Question 3

What happens if a defendant pleads guilty to an either way offence at the first hearing?

Answer 3

Magistrates need to determine if they should sentence the defendant or to send to Crown Court.

Question 4

What happens if a defendant pleads not-guilty to an either way offence at the first hearing?

Answer 4

The magistrates should go through the plea before venue and allocation procedure

Question 5

What happens to a defendant who is charged with an indictable offence after the first hearing?

Answer 5

Sent to CC for trial or sentencing.

The case will always have to be adjourned to see whether defendant should be released on bail or remain in custody.

Question 6

What is included in the initial details of the prosecution case (IDPC)?

Answer 6

Where defendant was on police custody for offence charged immediately before first hearing
- summary of circumstances of the offence
- defendant’s criminal record

All other cases
- summary of circumstances of the offence
- account given by D in interview
- written witness statement
- criminal record
- victim impact statement

Question 7

Where a defendant has been charged with an either way offence what are some benefits for choosing the Crown Court?

Answer 7

Greater chance of acquittal at a jury trial.

Better procedure for challenging admissibility of prosecution evidence.

More time to prepare case for trial.

Question 8

Where a defendant has been charged with an either way offence what are some benefits for choosing the Magistrates court?

Answer 8

Limited sentencing power
Speed and less stressful
Prosecution costs - likely to be ordered to make contribution to CPS costs, these will be higher in CC.
Mags defendant not required to contribute to any of their costs, can be in CC.

Question 9

For an either way offence, what is the procedure when the defendant appears in the magistrates court (when they indicate their plea)

Answer 9

1. Charge will be read out by court’s legal adviser who will check D’s solicitors have received IDPC.
2. Legal adviser tell the defendant they may indicate to court how they would like to plea.
3. Legal adviser asks defendant to indicate their plea.

Question 10

What will the magistrates consider when deciding which court to trial a either way offence in?

Answer 10

Representations made by prosecution or defence.
Whether sentence they have power to impose would be adequate.
The allocation guidelines.

Question 11

When will certain either-way offences be sent straight to the Crown Court?

Answer 11

Complex fraud - notice sent by DPP
Notice sent with cases involving children.

Question 12

What happens if the court is dealing with two or more defendants charged with the same offence and one defendant elects for the trial to take place in the Crown Court?

Answer 12

All defendants will be tried in the Crown Court. For the trial to take place in the Mags all defendants must be in agreement over this.

Question 13

Where will a defendant be tried if they are charged with an indictable only offence and an associated either way offence?

Answer 13

If the two offences are related both cases will be tried in the Crown Court.

Question 14

How long can a defendant be remanded in custody for before conviction?

Answer 14

Nor more than 8 clear days at a time. But this can be for up to 28 days if:

the court has previously remanded them in custody or the same offence
they are before the court
and it can set a date to remand them.

Question 15

Minimum sentences for a third domestic burglary or third Class A drugs
offence

Answer 15

• Seven years’ imprisonment for a third Class A drug trafficking offence
• Three years for a third domestic burglary
• Five years for certain firearms offences
• Six months for a second offence of possessing a weapon
• Six months for threatening with a weapon.

Question 16

Minimum sentence: Third domestic burglary

Answer 16

For burglary, all of the qualifying offences must be domestic burglaries
Where a D faces a third potential conviction, they must be committed to the CC as the
prescribed minimum is three years.
Defendants are often sentences for more than one burglary offence at a time.

A defendant may therefore commit:
(a) 12 domestic burglaries and be convicted of those. One of those will count as commission 1 and conviction 1.

(b) 18 further domestic burglaries after the first 12, which will count as commission 2 and
conviction 2.

(c) 20 further domestic burglaries which will count as commission 3 and conviction 3.

However, given these are minimum terms the court is, of course, at liberty to pass a longer
sentence than the three years.

There is a maximum of 20% reduction on a guilty plea.

Question 17

Common mitigating factors

Answer 17

• A greater degree of provocation than normally expected
• Mental illness or disability
• Youth or age, where it affects the responsibility of the individual defendant
• The fact that the offender played only a minor role in the offence
• Good character and/or lack of previous convictions
• Any personal mitigation

Question 18

Common aggravating factors

Answer 18

• Previous conviction(s), particularly where a pattern of repeat offending is disclosed
• Offence committed whilst on bail for other offences
• Offence was racially or religiously aggravated
• Offence motivated by, or demonstrating, hostility to the victim based on his sexual orientation (or presumed sexual orientation) or on the victim’s disability (or presumed disability)
• Commission of an offence while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
• Planning of an offence
• Offenders operating in groups or gangs
• ‘Professional’ offending
• Commission of the offence for financial gain (where this is not inherent in the offence itself)
• High level of profit from the offence
• An attempt to conceal or dispose of evidence
• Failure to respond to previous sentences
• Offence committed whilst on licence
• Offence motivated by hostility towards a minority group, or a member or members of it
• Use of a weapon to frighten or injure victim
• Multiple victims
• Deliberate and gratuitous violence or damage to property, over and above what is needed to carry out the offence
• An especially serious physical or psychological effect on the victim, even if unintended
• Victim is particularly vulnerable
• Deliberate targeting of vulnerable victim(s)
• An intention to commit more serious harm than actually resulted from the offence
• Location of the offence (for example, in an isolated place)
• A sustained assault or repeated assaults on the same victim
• Offence is committed against those working in the public sector or providing a service to the public
• Presence of others eg relatives, especially children or partner of the victim
• Additional degradation of the victim (eg taking photographs of a victim as part of a sexual offence)
• Abuse of a position of trust
• Abuse of power

Question 19

Credit for guilty plea

Answer 19

Defendants are given ‘credit’ or a discount on their sentence if they plead guilty. The amount of credit depends on when the guilty plea was entered.
The Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea guideline says that the first stage of proceedings will normally be the first hearing at which a plea or indication of plea is sought and recorded by the court

Question 20

The Code: Approach to sentencing

Answer 20

The Code confirms the approach the court should take:
(a) Determine offence seriousness (ie harm and culpability).
(b) Consider aggravating factors
(c) Consider mitigating factors
(d) Consider any assistance given to the prosecution.
(e) Consider the appropriate reduction for any guilty plea.
(f) Consider totality.
(g) Appropriate ancillary orders must be considered eg compensation, disqualification,
forfeiture, restraining order, costs, surcharge, Criminal Courts Charge.

Question 21

Category of offences for sentencing

Answer 21

For most offences, the sentencing guidelines set out the appropriate range of sentence based on:
(a) Greater culpability and greater harm.
(b) Greater culpability and lesser harm, or greater harm and lesser culpability.
(c) Lesser culpability and lesser harm.

The highest level of offence category would be 1, the lowest 3, and the middle category 2.

The guideline will then provide a sentence starting point and range for each category.

Question 22

can a court defer sentence?

Answer 22

A court can defer sentence for up to six months, the idea being that the defendant is allowed this time to prove to the court that D has either ‘changed’ or that the offence was an absolute ‘oneoff’ and thus allowing D the ability to present to the court at the end of the deferral period in a much better light, and often, receive a lighter sentence as a result.

The deferral period cannot be extended save for where the magistrates’ court defers sentence for a period, at the end of which they commit to the Crown Court for sentence, the Crown Court then has the option of deferring for a further six month period.