#4845 - Sentencing Extra - Criminal Litigation

Sentencing 1) What is the custody threshold? The court must not pass a custodial sentence unless it is of the opinion that the offence is "so serious that no other sentence could be justified - s.152(2) Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 2003 2) What factors are considered in sentencing? 1) Pre-Sentence Reports - s.156 and s.158 CJA 2003 * Defendant will be interviewed by probation officer who will write a short report on: a) The risk of the defendant re-offending b) The defendant's willingness to rehabilitate c) Any victim empathy d) Recommendation as to sentence 2) Previous convictions * Court when sentencing will always consider the relevance of an existing record of convictions 3) Aggravating and mitigating factors Assessing the seriousness of the offence Aggravating factors a) Statutory aggravating factors 1) The offender's culpability in committing the offence and any harm caused - s.143(1) CJA 2003 2) Previous offending - s.143(2) CJA 3) Offending whilst already on bail - s.143(3) CJA 2003 4) Racial or religious aggravation - s.145 CJA 2003 5) Hostility to a person's disability or sexual orientation - s.146 CJA 2003 b) Circumstances of the specific offence - Sentencing guidelines for the offence 1) Check the sentencing guideline for the offence in question 2) e.g. Some premeditation of the offence