Statistics from the Ministry of Justice’s Criminal Justice System Statistics Quarterly Publication 2024 confirm that just over 66,000 people were sentenced to a Community Order by the Magistrates Courts in England and Wales in 2024.
A Magistrates Court can impose a Community Order for any offence which has the possibility of a custodial sentence. The Court will often impose a Community Order in circumstances whereby the crime is too serious for a financial penalty to be imposed, but a custodial sentence would be deemed too severe.
In accordance with s204(2) of the Sentencing Code, Community Orders must not be imposed unless the offence itself, or the combination of any other offences associated with it are serious enough to warrant making one.
What will happen if the Court consider a Community Order
If the Court have decided to consider a Community Order as a possible sentence in your case, then your matter may be put back on the day of your sentence for a probation officer to complete an on the day Pre-Sentence Report (PSR), also known as a ‘stand down’ report on you. If this is possible, you will be interviewed at Court and your matter will then be brought back into Court later that day, to proceed to sentencing.
This, however, is often not the case. A large number of offences and Community Order requirements mean that the Probation Service need to complete additional checks before they are able to complete their PSR report. As such, this often means that your case will be adjourned for a couple of weeks in order for them to carry out these checks and for them to have time to complete a full report on you. You will then be required to re-attend Court, and a date for this further attendance will be given to you at the time the Court requests a report to be done.
The Magistrates will inform the Probation Service at your plea hearing as to the level of the report they wish for Probation to do. If they ask for an ‘all options report’, this means that a custodial sentence is not being ruled out by the Magistrates at this stage and the Probation Service will assess the impact a custodial sentence would have upon you as part of their report.
What can a Community Order include?
The purposes of a Community Order are to act as a punitive sentence, to assist in the rehabilitation of an offender and/or to engage an offender in reparative activities, and all orders must have one or more requirements attached to it.
A large number of our clients think that a Community Order always means that you are being ordered to complete unpaid work; however, this is not always the case, as there are 13 possible requirements a Court can impose with a Community Order:
- Completing up to 300 hours of unpaid work
- Completing a rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR days)
- Undertaking a programme (probation will recommend the most suitable) to assist offenders in changing their behaviour or ways of thinking
- Being forbidden to take part in particular activities
- Abiding by a curfew, which is usually for a period of time overnight, but could also be in the daytime, depending upon the crime
- Abiding by an exclusion zone requirement which prevents you from going to a particular place/places.
- Having a residence condition, which means you have to reside at a particular address
- Being prohibited from travelling abroad
- Electronic monitoring (tag)
- If the offender consents, then you could be ordered to complete a Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR);
- A drug rehabilitation requirement (DRR)
- Alcohol Treatment Requirement (ATR)
- Alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement
For options 10-13, your case could be listed for reviews as to your progress at Court to ensure you are complying with the requirement.
How long can my order last?
There are three levels of orders that can be imposed;
Low level – if unpaid work is imposed on a low level order, it will be between 40-80 hours.
Medium-level – you will receive 80 – 150 hours of unpaid work if the court imposes such a requirement.
High-level – up to 300 hours of unpaid work can be imposed.
The length of an order imposed by the Magistrates can vary and can last up to a total of 3 years; the most frequently imposed Orders tend to be for a period of 12 -24 months.
What happens if you breach your Order?
If you fail to comply with the requirements of your Community Order, then the Probation Service can issue breach proceedings for your case to be brought back to Court. If you have committed the breach, the Court can mark the breach by imposing a financial penalty, adding additional requirements to your Order, or they can add additional unpaid work hours to the existing Order. If the breach is serious enough, or there is not enough time left for you to complete the requirements before the expiration of the Order, then you are at risk of the Court revoking and resentencing you. If the Court decides to revoke and resentence, then you are at risk of being resentenced to a more serious punishment, which could include imprisonment.
Contact our Criminal Law Specialists
Lydia Etheridge is one of the leading defence lawyers in Oxford and the Thames Valley, who has many years of successful experience when dealing with such cases.
Please get in contact with Lewis Nedas Law on 020 7387 2032 or via our online enquiry form for advice.