PREPARING FOR PAROLE What type of cases do the Parole Board consider? The Secretary of State is required by law to refer certain cases to the Parole Board. The purpose of this is to enable the Parole Board to review the detention of that prisoner and decide whether they are safe to be released. The…
The sentencing regime in the magistrates’ court is notoriously complex and about to change again following a government U-Turn. In May 2022, the government allowed magistrates to imprison an adult for up to 12 months for a single either-way offence; the previous maximum for a single offence was 6 months. This change was designed to…
IPP sentences were introduced to prevent serious offenders being released when still a danger to the public. They were scrapped in 2012, but nearly 3000 people remain in prison under the legislation, with almost half of these having been recalled to prison after earlier being released. The Justice Committee said in a report published in…
Any prisoner released for a period of time in the community on licence will be aware that they can be returned to custody for breaching or rather, allegedly breaching their licence conditions. When clients are recalled they often tell us that they want to “appeal” their recall. Although there is no appeal process for offenders…
Draft sentencing guidelines for sentencing retailers including large organisations and individual shop owners convicted of selling knives to children in England and Wales were published for consultation today (1 June 2022) by the Sentencing Council. There are two guidelines – one for sentencing organisations and one for sentencing individuals – which will apply to offenders…
