New Sentencing Guidelines Proposed
The Sentencing Council has today (27 March 2017) published proposed new guidelines covering arson and criminal damage offences. The guidelines, for courts in England and Wales, will help ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing for these offences.
Why?
The introduction of the guidelines is due to existing sentencing guidance for these offences being very restricted. There is some guidance in the Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Guidelines for arson, criminal damage and racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage offences.
However, there are no guidelines for the Crown Court and none for criminal damage/arson with intent to endanger life or reckless as to whether life endangered, or for threats to destroy or damage property.
These offences can vary greatly in seriousness. Arson can range from a small fire set in a street litter bin to a carefully planned and sophisticated attack intended to endanger lives or destroy a building.
Criminal damage also varies in seriousness and type and can comprise of graffiti, damage to public amenities such as trains and railway stations or throwing stones at passing cars from a motorway bridge.
Offences Covered
The guidelines cover:
• Arson
• Criminal damage / arson with intent to endanger life or reckless as to whether life endangered
• Criminal damage where for the damage has a value more than £5000
• Criminal damage where the damage has a value of less than £5000 and
• Threats to destroy or damage property.
They also cover racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage offences.
The Council decided not to include guidance for the offence of possessing an article with intent to destroy or damage property, as the volumes of this offence are very low, (in 2016 25 offenders were sentenced for this offence), so the Council decided to focus on guidance for the higher volume offences.
Approach to sentencing
The draft guidelines set out the approach to the assessment of harm caused by these offences and other features that should be considered by courts.
The guidelines take into account that harm can involve not only physical injury but long-term psychological effects, especially in relation to arson, and the draft guidelines ensure that courts consider this in their assessment.
The guidelines also provide more in-depth guidance than is currently available to assist courts in the sentencing of racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage cases.
The economic impact caused is also an important consideration in the assessment of harm, but the guidelines note that damage to property can mean more than just financial loss.
Damage may be caused to items that have little financial value but are of great personal value, and may be irreplaceable, which can be very distressing for victims.
The guidelines also ensure that the economic or social impact of offending is included in sentencing considerations. Offences can be committed against public amenities and services and damage to a school, community centre or train station can have a real impact on local communities, while there can also be consequential economic harm caused to neighbouring houses or businesses. A further aggravating factor highlighted is ‘Significant impact on emergency services or resources’ which is included to reflect the additional seriousness of offences when a number of emergency vehicles are required to deal with an incident, meaning that fewer resources are then available to deal with any other incidents in the area.
The guidelines also highlight that the impact of arson or criminal damage to national heritage assets such as listed buildings or historic objects can also destroy unique parts of the country’s heritage and history, and that this should be taken into account in sentencing.
Tougher Sentences
The Sentencing Council estimates no more than a negligible impact in connection to sentence type and length, although acknowledges that this depends on the guidelines being properly applied.
The Council takes a number of precautions in issuing new guidelines to try to ensure that judges interpret them as anticipated. Sentencing ranges are agreed on by considering sentencing data in conjunction with Council members’ practice of sentencing. Transcripts of sentencing remarks for arson and criminal damage cases have also been studied to ensure that the guidelines are developed with current sentencing practice in mind. Research with sentences carried out during the consultation period should also enable issues with implementation to be identified and addressed previous to the publication of the definitive guideline.
Following the release of the guidelines, descriptive material will be provided to read alongside the guidelines; consultees can also feedback their opinions of the likely effect of the guidelines, and whether this differs from the effects set out in the consultation stage resource assessment. The Council also uses information from the Ministry of Justice to monitor the effects of its guidelines.
When will the guidelines take effect?
It is likely that the new guidelines will take effect in late 2018. However, it should be anticipated that Judges are likely to look closely at the consultation guidelines prior to any implementation, even though this is poor practice. As a firm, we will, therefore, be particularly alert to their misuse before any final guideline comes in to force.
How we can assist
The sentencing process is subject to ever increasing complexity, but one that is understood intimately by our expert team.
To discuss any aspect of your case please contact one of our Criminal Solicitors on: 0161 4771121
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