Failing To Comply With Court Orders
Further to his article, titled the same as this, posted to this website on 3rd July 2018 describing the nature of breach offences, Nazaqat Maqsoom of Kangs Solicitors describes some of the specific penalties the court can impose and the factors that will be taken into account when sentencing an offender.
Penalties | Kangs Criminal Law Defence Solicitors
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 provides the following remedies.
Breach Of A Community Order - (Schedule 8)
- Failing to comply with the requirements of a community order. The court must take into account the overall level of compliance.
- Wilful and persistent non-compliance. The court may impose a custodial sentence, even where the original offence did not merit custody.
- Low, medium and high level of compliance. The courts may impose a fine, additional hours of unpaid work, extend the length of the order and add additional requirements such as a curfew.
- Medium or low Level of compliance. The Court may revoke the order and re-sentence the original offence.
Breach of a Suspended Sentence Order (SSO) - (Schedule 12)
- Conviction for a further offence committed during the operational period of the SSO. The court must activate the Custodial Sentence, unless it would be unjust in all the circumstances and, in so doing, the Court should assess the level of compliance and the nature and facts of the new offence.
- Medium or high level of compliance with the SSO where the new offence does not require a custodial sentence, is less serious than the original offence but requires a custodial sentence and is similar to that for which the SSO was imposed. The Court should activate the original sentence but apply a reduction taking into account any unpaid work or curfew requirements completed.
- If the breach involves multiple and/or more serious new offences full activation of the original custodial term is required.
- When deciding if the activation would be unjust the court should consider any strong personal mitigation, whether there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and whether immediate custody would result in significant impact on others.
- If the court finds it unjust to resort to a custodial sentence, it must state its reasons and must impose a fine not exceeding £2,500, extend the operation period of the SSO to a maximum of two years from the date of original sentence, or if the SSO imposes community requirements, impose more onerous requirements, extend supervision period or the operational period.
- Where there is a failure to comply with a community requirement, the court must activate the custodial sentence unless it would be unjust in all the circumstances to do so.
Breach of Post-Sentence Supervision (Section 256AC and Schedule 19A)
- When imposing a penalty for breach of a Post Sentence Supervision Order or breach of a Supervision Default Order, the court will look at the previous level of compliance and may for example, impose a fine, curfew, unpaid work or commit to custody.
- The maximum fine that can be imposed is £1,000.
How We Can Help | Kangs Breach Offences Defence Solicitors
Given the potential severity of sentencing now available to courts, it is essential that expert legal advice is sought as soon as you become aware of any investigation being conducted arising from a breach offence.
Who Should I Contact? | Kangs National Criminal Defence Lawyers
Please feel free to contact our team through either of the following who will be happy to provide you with some initial advice and discuss any of the issues in this article which may be of interest to you.
Suki Randhawa
srandhawa@kangssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396 | 07989 521 210 (24hr Emergency Number)
John Veale
jveale@kangssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396 | 07989 521 210 (24hr Emergency Number)
Helen Holder
hholder@kangssolicitors.co.uk
0121 449 9888 | 020 7936 6396
