What about sentencing?

Magistrates always consider any decision very carefully. They do not pluck sentencing decisions out of thin air but follow a process using sentencing guidelines from the Sentencing Guidelines Council and taking note of any relevant case law that has been drawn to their attention by their legal adviser in court.

Record

Following a guilty plea or conviction in a trial, the magistrates would be told of any previous convictions and whether the offence had been committed while the defendant was on bail or on licence (released from prison before the end of their sentence). This makes the matter more serious. This helps magistrates to see if there is a pattern of offending and what penalties have been issued previously eg they can see if someone with an obvious drug addiction has been given any opportunity to address their habit. If it was a motoring case then details of the defendant's drving record would be given to the court. In addition the defence representative or if unrepresented, the defendant  would be given the chance to speak on behalf of the defendant.

Stage 1

By using the sentencing guidelines for the offence magistrates can pitch the offence before them into a band which suggests a range of sentences - that is their starting point.

They then look at the details of the offence to see if there are any circumstancs which make it more or less serious, eg if an assault happened in a public place when member of the general public were distrssed, if a vulnerable victim was involved in some way.

Stage 2

The bench review the starting point again - in the light of the previous discussion does that alter?

The bench then look at offender details - have they committed this crime before, is there anything in their current personal circumstances that should be considered, have they done anything at all to show remorse etc.

A prompt guilty plea would be considered and a discount given to recognise that court time has not been wasted and victims and witnesss have not had to go through the ordeal of a trial. Once again the bench would return to their sentence at stage 2 to see if it should be revised. 

The final decision will be made and checked.

Reports

If the likely sentence is to be a community penalty or a prison sentence then the bench would normally ask the probation service to prepare a  report which gives details of risk of re-offending, any problems that the offenders has, attitudes about the offence etc.

The report may include a medical or pyschiatric report or an additional report if the magistrates were thinking of  a community penalty with a requirement to address an addiction or abusive behaviour.

Sometimes the report can be prepared on the same day and information given orally but a more detailed report may take 3 weeks. Whenever possible the one or more of the bench will return to sentence as they are familiar with the case.

Appeals

Most of the time defendants accept the outcome and sentence but if they are unhappy they do have the right to appeal to the Crown Court provided they do so within a time limit. In reality very few cases are appealed, less than 3% and of those less than half are allowed.