The Sentencing Council has proposed its first set of guidelines for the offences of perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation.
Currently, there are no guidelines for perverting the course of justice and only limited guidance in the magistrates’ courts for witness intimidation. The Council decided not to include perjury, contempt of court and assisting an offender as incidents of these are relatively low (only five people were sentenced for perjury in 2020, 20 for contempt and 40 for assisting an offender).
It proposed sentences ranging from a community order to between two and seven years of custody for perverting the course of justice, depending on levels of harm and culpability. For witness intimidation, it proposed a range from a community order up to four years in prison.
In 2020, about 400 people were sentenced for perverting the course of justice. The common law offence, which is indictable only, currently has a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The offence includes giving false information to police officers at a traffic stop, so avoiding prosecution, to fabricating evidence designed to incriminate an innocent person.
About 180 people were sentenced in 2020 for witness intimidation, under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, an offence which includes pressuring witnesses to withdraw allegations or witness statements or not to give evidence in court.
Sentencing Council member, Mrs Justice Juliet May said: ‘Perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation are serious offences that strike at the heart of justice: they can delay or even derail criminal investigations; they can cast suspicion on innocent people; and victims and witnesses can feel too scared to make a complaint about a crime they have suffered, or have witnessed.’
The 12-week Sentencing Council consultation, which can be found here, ends on 22 June.
