Guidelines point to fewer jail sentences for assault

Thousands of attackers could be allowed to walk free from court under proposed guidelines for assault cases which the Sentencing Council said would also take more account of the impact on victims of crime.

The changes, which could come into effect by next spring, could lead to more than 3,000 fewer custodial sentences, save the prison service more than 16m a year, and save the probation service 3m a year.

But Lord Justice Leveson, chairman of the Sentencing Council which is consulting on the guidelines, insisted: "None of us are soft on crime" and denied the plans were "driven by the Government" and its need to cut public spending.

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"What's moving me is to get the system right, fair, proportionate and understandable," he said. "I'm very keen there should be a consistency of approach, whether (defendants) are sentenced by a judge in Bristol, Birmingham, Basildon or Brighton."

The council said judges and magistrates have often not followed existing guidelines and there had been a "general trend towards longer sentences for all assault offences" over the past 10 years.

Under the proposals, the "undue emphasis on premeditation" would be removed and the focus switched to the harm caused and the culpability of the offender.

In a briefing at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Lord Justice Leveson said: "There has been an increase in the severity of sentences at the lower end of the assault range and I think we're trying to adjust that for reasons of proportionality, rather than anything else.

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"If anything, I think there may be a slight increase at the very, very top, for the most serious offences of this type."

The council considered assault cases in the context of all violent offences and, for some of the lesser offences of assault, "there will be an increase in the non-custodial element", the judge said.

The draft guidelines also call for better management of "the expectations of victims ahead of any sentence being passed".

Under the new proposals, the court would determine sentences by considering "the offender's culpability in committing the offence and the harm caused, or intended to be caused," to the victim.