New burglary sentencing guidelines adopted by courts put victim first
Published: 16 January 2012
- Date:
- 16 January 2012
New sentencing guidelines on burglary take victims into consideration
Victim Support welcomes new sentencing guidelines on burglary which come into force in all courts in England and Wales today and take into consideration the impact of crime on the victim.
This means that offences will be seen as more serious if, for example, a victim is at home when a burglary takes place. Offenders burgling homes face up to six years in jail, up to five years in non-domestic cases, and up to 13 if armed.
Judges must follow the guidelines, unless it is in the interests of justice to depart from them. They state that Crown and magistrates' courts must always set a custodial sentence for aggravated burglary (i.e. when a weapon was involved).
The proposals have taken account of the views of the public and victims, who thought domestic burglary should generally result in a custodial sentence but not in every case.
Javed Khan, Chief Executive of Victim Support, said: “Being burgled and having your personal belongings trashed or stolen can be devastating and have a lasting impact. With a quarter of burglary victims losing confidence, a fifth having trouble sleeping and one in ten suffering from depression, it is only right that the impact is taken into account in sentencing.
“Victim Support is pleased that the new guidelines coming into force today take this into account and hope it will lead to more victims being offered the opportunity to tell a court about the effect through a victim personal statement. It’s bad enough being a burglary victim but being at home when the crime takes place is far more frightening - and this needs to be considered when an offender is sentenced.”
The Sentencing Council for England and Wales said the lowest level of offenders, for whom a non-custodial community sentence might be appropriate, could include those with no previous convictions who did not force entry and took goods of low value.