Judges and magistrates in England and Wales will be provided with eight new guidelines for sentencing those convicted of firearms offences from 1 January 2021, following a consultation by the Sentencing Council.
Currently, there are no sentencing guidelines for firearms offences in the Crown Court, and just one in magistrates’ courts, covering the offence of carrying a firearm in a public place. The new guidelines set out the sentencing practice for eight offences under the Firearms Act 1968, including the possession, purchase or acquisition of an unlawful weapon or ammunition, possession of a firearm with the intent to endanger life or cause fear of violence, and the manufacture, transfer or sale of a prohibited weapon or ammunition.
Once the new guidelines come into force on 1 January, it is hoped they will provide the courts with a consistent framework for sentencing such offences. In preparation for the new guidelines, the Sentencing Council also analysed potential disparities in sentencing outcomes for some firearms offences based on the offender’s ethnicity, and have included measures in the new guidelines to flag evidence of sentencing disparities for the sentencer’s attention.
Sentencing Council member Mrs Justice Maura McGowan said: ‘Firearms have the potential to cause terrible harm—from severe injury or death to intense fear—and the courts rightly take these offences extremely seriously. We know that judges and magistrates will welcome guidelines in this difficult area of sentencing.
‘The new guidelines cover a range of offending relating to the possession, manufacturing and transferring of firearms and aim to provide a structured framework for courts to ensure a consistent approach to sentencing that meets the seriousness of the offending.'
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