In February, the Sentencing Council proposed embedding additional information into offence-specific sentencing guidelines to make it easier for judges and lawyers to access the information.
The Justice Committee, scrutinising the proposals, highlighted concerns that there could be an overlap between offence-specific factors relating to culpability and aggravating or mitigating factors. However, the Sentencing Council has now confirmed that judges will be given reminders to avoid ‘double counting’.
Chair of the Justice Committee, Bob Neill MP, said: ‘We feel that including the reminder to sentencers at the beginning of every expanded explanation is a sensible step.’
The Committee has asked the Council to supply a ‘nonexhaustive list of items’ that have been held to be weapons, as this is often a confusing issue for magistrates and judges.
It also raised concerns that judges may be under pressure to produce pre-sentence reports too quickly, at the expense of detailed information on offenders. For offenders who committed crimes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the Committee suggested that the explanatory text be reworded to acknowledge that the offender may have intended to seek help but been thwarted by limitations in the availability of local treatment facilities.
It also suggested that ‘good character’ should have no relevance where there is a proven pattern of behaviour, and that judges should be referred to domestic abuse guidelines, given that an abuser often conceals their behaviour by cultivating a public ‘face’ of decency through charity work or other good deeds.
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