Crown Court

Magistrates

Breach of a suspended sentence order

Sentencing Code, Sch. 16

Effective from 1 October 2018

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Guideline users should be aware that the Equal Treatment Bench Book covers important aspects of fair treatment and disparity of outcomes for different groups in the criminal justice system. It provides guidance which sentencers are encouraged to take into account wherever applicable, to ensure that there is fairness for all involved in court proceedings.

1. Conviction for further offence committed during operational period of order

The court must activate the custodial sentence unless it would be unjust in all the circumstances to do so. The predominant factor in determining whether activation is unjust relates to the level of compliance with the suspended sentence order and the facts/nature of any new offence. These factors are already provided for in the penalties below which are determined by the nature of the new offence and level of compliance, but permit a reduction to the custodial term for relevant completed or partially completed requirements where appropriate.

The facts/nature of the new offence is the primary consideration in assessing the action to be taken on the breach.

Where the breach is in the second or third category below, the prior level of compliance is also relevant. In assessing the level of compliance with the order the court should consider:

the overall attitude and engagement with the order as well as the proportion of elements completed;
the impact of any completed or partially completed requirements on the offender’s behaviour;
the proximity of breach to imposition of order; and
evidence of circumstances or offender characteristics, such as disability, mental health issues or learning difficulties which have impeded offender’s compliance with the order.

Breach involves	Penalty
Multiple and/or more serious new offence(s) committed	Full activation of original custodial term
New offence similar in type and gravity to offence for which suspended sentence order imposed and: a) No/low level of compliance with suspended sentence order OR b) Medium or high level of compliance with suspended sentence order	a) Full activation of original custodial term b) Activate sentence but apply appropriate reduction* to original custodial term taking into consideration any unpaid work or curfew requirements completed
New offence less serious than original offence but requires a custodial sentence and: a) No/low level of compliance with suspended sentence order OR b) Medium or high level of compliance with suspended sentence order	a) Full activation of original custodial term b) Activate sentence but apply appropriate reduction* to original custodial term taking into consideration any unpaid work or curfew requirements completed
New offence does not require custodial sentence	Activate sentence but apply reduction* to original custodial term taking into consideration any unpaid work or curfew requirements completed OR Impose more onerous requirement(s) and/or extend supervision period and/or extend operational period OR Impose fine

* It is for the court dealing with the breach to identify the appropriate proportionate reduction depending on the extent of any compliance with the requirements specified.

	Starting point	Range
Fine Band A	50% of relevant weekly income	25 – 75% of relevant weekly income
Fine Band B	100% of relevant weekly income	75 – 125% of relevant weekly income
Fine Band C	150% of relevant weekly income	125 – 175% of relevant weekly income
Fine Band D	250% of relevant weekly income	200 – 300% of relevant weekly income
Fine Band E	400% of relevant weekly income	300 – 500% of relevant weekly income
Fine Band F	600% of relevant weekly income	500 – 700% of relevant weekly income

The court should determine the appropriate level of fine in accordance with this guideline and section 125 of the Sentencing Code, which requires that the fine must reflect the seriousness of the offence and that the court must take into account the financial circumstances of the offender.
Where possible, if a financial penalty is imposed, it should remove any economic benefit the offender has derived through the commission of the offence including:
- avoided costs;
- operating savings;
- any gain made as a direct result of the offence.
The fine should meet, in a fair and proportionate way, the objectives of punishment, deterrence and the removal of gain derived through the commission of the offence; it should not be cheaper to offend than to comply with the law.
In considering economic benefit, the court should avoid double recovery.
Where the means of the offender are limited, priority should be given to compensation (where applicable) over payment of any other financial penalty.
Where it is not possible to calculate or estimate the economic benefit, the court may wish to draw on information from the enforcing authorities about the general costs of operating within the law.
When sentencing organisations the fine must be sufficiently substantial to have a real economic impact which will bring home to both management and shareholders the need to comply with the law. The court should ensure that the effect of the fine (particularly if it will result in closure of the business) is proportionate to the gravity of the offence.
Obtaining financial information: It is for the offender to disclose to the court such data relevant to their financial position as will enable it to assess what they can reasonably afford to pay. If necessary, the court may compel the disclosure of an individual offender’s financial circumstances pursuant to section 35 of the Sentencing Code. In the absence of such disclosure, or where the court is not satisfied that it has been given sufficient reliable information, the court will be entitled to draw reasonable inferences as to the offender’s means from evidence it has heard and from all the circumstances of the case. In setting a fine, the court may conclude that the offender is able to pay any fine imposed unless the offender has supplied financial information to the contrary.

The Imposition of community and custodial sentences guideline outlines the general approach to sentencing and provides guidance on how sentencers should address specific issues that may arise when they consider the most appropriate sentence.

A community order must not be imposed unless the offence (or the combination of the offence and one or more offences associated with it) is serious enough to warrant the making of such an order (section 204(2) of the Sentencing Code). There is no power to make a community order for a non-imprisonable offence (section 202(1)(b) of the Sentencing Code).

Even where the seriousness of the offence indicates that the threshold for a community order has been passed, sentencers must consider all available disposals at the time of sentence. A fine or discharge can achieve the purposes of sentencing (with, if relevant, any appropriate ancillary orders).
If the offender received a non-custodial disposal for a previous offence, the court should not necessarily move to a custodial sentence for the fresh offence.
Sentences should not necessarily escalate from one community order range to the next on each sentencing occasion. The decision as to the appropriate range of community order should be based upon the seriousness of the new offence(s) (which will take into account any previous convictions).
As set out in certain offence specific guidelines, where there is a sufficient prospect of rehabilitation, a community order with a specific requirement can be a proper alternative to a short or moderate length custodial sentence. Short or moderate sentences are not defined, and may exceed two years’ custody.

See further information on previous convictions in section 2 of the Imposition guideline.

Pre-sentence reports (PSR)

When considering a community or custodial sentence, the court must request and consider a pre-sentence report (PSR) before forming an opinion of the sentence, unless it considers that it is unnecessary (section 30 of the Sentencing Code). A pre-sentence report may also be requested by a defence legal representative as part of the before-plea protocol.

A pre-sentence report can be pivotal in helping the court decide whether to impose a custodial or community order and, where relevant, what particular requirements or combination of requirements are most suitable for an individual offender on either a community order or a suspended custodial sentence.

PSRs are necessary in all cases that would benefit from an assessment of one or more of the following: the offender’s dangerousness and risk of harm, the nature and causes of the offender’s behaviour, the offender’s personal circumstances and any factors that may be helpful to the court in considering the offender’s suitability for different sentences or requirements.
A pre-sentence report may be unnecessary if the court considers that it has enough information about the offence and the offender.

See more information on pre-sentence reports at section 3 of the Imposition guideline.

Magistrates: Consult your legal adviser before deciding to sentence to a community order or custodial sentence without a pre-sentence report.

Section 4 of the Imposition guideline contains important information on the suitability and effectiveness of a sentence.

Community orders

Community orders can fulfil all of the purposes of sentencing. They can have the effect of restricting the offender’s liberty while providing punishment in the community, rehabilitation for the offender, and/or ensuring that the offender engages in reparative activities.

If, in all the circumstances of the case, a fine can achieve the purposes of sentencing, it may be imposed as an alternative to a community order. See more information at section 5 of the Imposition guideline.

Community order levels

Any requirement/s imposed for the purpose of rehabilitation should be determined by and aligned with the offender’s needs. The court may benefit from the Probation Service’s assessment of the offender’s needs and suggestion of appropriate rehabilitative interventions.

The levels table below offers non-exhaustive examples of the ranges of requirements imposed for the purpose of punishment that might be appropriate in each level of community order.

Low	Medium	High
Offences only just cross the community order threshold, where the seriousness of the offence or the nature of the offender’s record means that a discharge or fine is inappropriate.	Offences where the community order threshold has been passed but the custody threshold has not been passed.	Offences only just below the custody threshold, or where the custody threshold is crossed but a community order is more appropriate in the circumstances.
*When imposing for the purpose of punishment, non-exhaustive examples of suitable ranges for one requirement might include:**
40 – 80 hours of unpaid work Curfew of up to 16 hours in any day for up to 4 weeks** Exclusion requirement lasting in the region of a few months	80 – 150 hours of unpaid work Curfew of up to 16 hours in any day for up to 6 months** Exclusion requirement lasting in the region of 6 months	150 – 300 hours of unpaid work Curfew of up to 20 hours in any day for up to 24 months** Exclusion requirement lasting in the region of 12 months
If order does not contain a requirement for the purpose of punishment, suggested fine levels are indicated below:
BAND A FINE	BAND B FINE	BAND C FINE
* When imposing more than one requirement, the court should moderate the intensity, volume or length of the requirements to ensure they are not disproportionate to the level of the order. ** Maximum of 112 hours in any period of 7 days. The court may vary the number of hours on different days if appropriate according to the circumstances of the offender.

Requirements

Community orders must consist of one or more requirements.

The court must ensure that requirements imposed are the most suitable for the offender. See more information at section 7 of the Imposition guideline.

Any requirement can be imposed for the purpose of punishment depending on the individual offender, though normally rehabilitation activity requirements (RARs) and treatment requirements should not be. One requirement can fulfil multiple purposes of sentencing.

Any requirement(s) imposed for the purpose of rehabilitation should be determined by, and align with, the offender’s needs.

A custodial sentence must not be imposed unless the offence (or the combination of the offence and one or more offences associated with it) was so serious that neither a fine alone nor a community sentence can be justified (section 230(2) of the Sentencing Code).

Even where the seriousness of the offence indicates that the threshold for a custodial order has been passed, a custodial sentence should not be imposed if in all the circumstances of the case it is appropriate to impose a community order, for example, if a community order achieves the purposes of sentencing.
Custody should not be imposed on an offender who is pregnant or within the postnatal period (within 12 months after giving birth) where the impact on the offender or dependants, including unborn children, would make a custodial sentence disproportionate to achieving the purposes of sentencing.

See further information on previous convictions in section 2 of the Imposition guideline.

Pre-sentence reports (PSR)

PSRs are necessary in all cases that would benefit from an assessment of one or more of the following: the offender’s dangerousness and risk of harm, the nature and causes of the offender’s behaviour, the offender’s personal circumstances and any factors that may be helpful to the court in considering the offender’s suitability for different sentences or requirements.
A pre-sentence report may be unnecessary if the court considers that it has enough information about the offence and the offender.

See more information on pre-sentence reports at section 3 of the Imposition guideline.

Magistrates: Consult your legal adviser before deciding to sentence to a community order or custodial sentence without a pre-sentence report.

Section 4 of the Imposition guideline contains important information on the suitability and effectiveness of a sentence.

Custodial sentences

If the custodial threshold has been passed the court should ask the following three questions in the following order:

Is it unavoidable that a custodial sentence be imposed?

A custodial sentence (whether immediate or suspended) must not be imposed unless the offence (or the combination of the offence and one or more offences associated with it) was so serious that neither a fine alone nor a community sentence can be justified (s.230(2) Sentencing Act 2020).
Passing the custody threshold does not mean that a custodial sentence (whether immediate or suspended) is inevitable. Custody should not be imposed where the purposes of sentencing could be achieved by a community order or where circumstances exist which may make a custodial sentence disproportionate to achieving the purposes of sentencing (for example, where there would be an impact on dependants, including on unborn children where the offender is pregnant.)
Community orders are often punitive and last longer than shorter custodial sentences. Community orders can restrict an offender’s day to day liberties, especially when imposed on an offender who may find regular attendance at a specific place or time challenging. Breach can result in custody.
If the purposes of sentencing can be achieved by a community order, or any personal mitigation means that a community order may be a more suitable sentence, see the Community orders dropdown above.

What is the shortest term commensurate with the seriousness of the offence?

If the court is considering an immediate custodial sentence of up to 12 months, it should take into account that research suggests that custodial sentences of up to 12 months are less effective than other disposals at reducing reoffending and can lead to negative outcomes. Any custodial sentence may disrupt factors which can discourage further offending, such as employment, education or accommodation, and may affect support networks by interfering with relationships with friends and family.
While courts are encouraged to consider a community order in lieu of a custodial sentence where appropriate, there will be cases where a short custodial sentence is unavoidable.
In considering the shortest term, the court must NOT consider any licence or post sentence supervision requirements or any other administrative or statutory consequences of the potential sentence imposed.

Can the sentence be suspended?

Cases where the offender was convicted before 22 March 2026
If the shortest term commensurate with the seriousness of the offence is 2 years or less, the court should consider whether it is appropriate to suspend that sentence so that the offender serves their sentence in the community under the supervision of the Probation Service.

Cases where the offender was convicted on or after 22 March 2026
If the shortest term commensurate with the seriousness of the offending is 12 months or less, the court must suspend the sentence under the statutory presumption of suspension, unless any of the following apply:

The offender is in custody (whether serving a sentence, on remand for another offence, or detained under a hospital order)
The offender is being resentenced for breaching a community or suspended sentence order
The offence was committed while the offender was subject to a community or suspended sentence order
Committing the offence, or an associated offence, was a breach of a court order or was closely connected with a breach of a court order (whether or not that breach was a criminal offence)
There is significant risk of physical or psychological harm to an individual
Exceptional circumstances relate to the offence or the offender which justify not suspending the sentence

If the sentence is not to be suspended applying the presumption OR if the shortest term commensurate with the seriousness of the offending is more than 12 months and no more than 3 years, the court should consider whether it is appropriate to suspend that sentence so that the offender serves their sentence in the community under the supervision of the Probation Service.

The court should weigh the relevant factors below to consider whether it is possible to suspend the sentence:

Factors indicating that it may be appropriate to suspend a custodial sentence	Factors indicating that it may not be appropriate to suspend a custodial sentence
Realistic prospect of rehabilitation in the community Offender does not present high risk of reoffending or harm Strong personal mitigation Immediate custody will result in significant harmful impact upon others, including any dependent children or where the offender is pregnant or postnatal (has given birth in the previous 12 months)	Offender presents a risk to any person The seriousness of the offence means that appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody History of poor compliance with court orders AND unlikely to comply in the future

Suspending a sentence

If the offender reoffends during the operational period or fails to comply with any requirements during the supervision period of the suspended sentence order, the custodial term will be activated and the offender will be required to serve some or all of the sentence in custody, unless it is unjust to do so, as set out in the Breach of suspended sentence orders guideline).
A suspended sentence is a custodial sentence. A suspended sentence MUST NOT be imposed as a more severe form of community order. Sentencers should be clear that they would impose an immediate custodial sentence if the power to suspend were not available. If not, a non-custodial sentence, such as a community order, should be imposed.
In weighing any of the following non-exhaustive factors indicating whether to suspend a custodial sentence, the court will usually benefit from Probation’s assessment of any relevant circumstances (such as dependants) and whether the offender can be safely managed in the community (including safeguarding of the victim/s and/or public).

A custodial sentence that is suspended should be for the same term that would have applied if the sentence was to be served immediately. See more information on the operational and supervision periods in section 9 of the Imposition guideline.

Requirements on a suspended sentence order

When the court imposes a suspended sentence order, it may impose one or more requirements on the order for the offender to undertake in the community (section 286(2) of the Sentencing Code).

A suspended sentence order is a custodial sentence; as such, the imposition of a suspended sentence order is itself a punishment, with or without requirements. Any requirements that are imposed as part of a suspended sentence order are, therefore, more likely to be predominantly rehabilitative in purpose. The court should moderate the intensity, volume or length of any requirement imposed for the purpose of additional punishment so it is not disproportionate to the seriousness of the offending.

The requirements that may be imposed on a suspended sentence order are identical to those for community orders. The court must follow the guidance in section 7 of the Imposition guideline, including ensuring that any requirements imposed are the most suitable for the offender, realistic to fulfil, and where multiple requirements are imposed, they are compatible with each other and not excessive.

To ensure that the requirements of the suspended sentence are commensurate with offence seriousness, care must be taken to ensure requirements imposed are not excessive. The court wishing to impose onerous or intensive requirements should reconsider whether a community sentence might be more appropriate.

Unjust in all the circumstances

The court dealing with the breach should remember that the court imposing the original sentence determined that a custodial sentence was appropriate in the original case.

In determining if there are other factors which would cause activation to be unjust, the court may consider all factors including:

any strong personal mitigation;
whether there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation;
whether immediate custody will result in significant impact on others.

Only new and exceptional factors/circumstances not present at the time the suspended sentence order was imposed should be taken into account.

In cases where the court considers that it would be unjust to order the custodial sentence to take effect, it must state its reasons and it must deal with the offender in one of the following ways:

impose a fine not exceeding £2,500; OR
extend the operational period (to a maximum of two years from date of original sentence); OR
if the SSO imposes community requirements, do one or more of:
1. impose more onerous community requirements;
2. extend the supervision period (to a maximum of two years from date of original sentence);
3. extend the operational period (to a maximum of two years from date of original sentence).

2. Failure to comply with a community requirement during the supervision period of the order

The court must activate the custodial sentence unless it would be unjust in all the circumstances to do so. The predominant factor in determining whether activation is unjust relates to the level of compliance with the suspended sentence order. This factor is already provided for in the penalties below which are determined by the level of compliance, but permit a reduction to the custodial term for relevant completed or partially completed requirements where appropriate.

The court must take into account the extent to which the offender has complied with the suspended sentence order when imposing a sentence. In assessing the level of compliance with the order the court should consider:

the overall attitude and engagement with the order as well as the proportion of elements completed;
the impact of any completed or partially completed requirements on the offender’s behaviour; and
the proximity of breach to imposition of order; and
evidence of circumstances or offender characteristics, such as disability, mental health issues or learning difficulties which have impeded offender’s compliance with the order.

Breach involves	Penalty
No/low level of compliance	Full activation of original custodial term
Medium level of compliance	Activate sentence but apply reduction* to original custodial term taking into consideration any unpaid work or curfew requirements completed
High level of compliance	Activate sentence but apply reduction* to original custodial term taking into consideration any unpaid work or curfew requirements completed OR Impose more onerous requirement(s) and/or extend supervision period and/or extend operational period OR impose fine

*It is for the court dealing with the breach to identify the appropriate proportionate reduction depending on the extent of any compliance with the requirements specified.

Unjust in all the circumstances

The court dealing with the breach should remember that the court imposing the original sentence determined that a custodial sentence was appropriate in the original case.

In determining if there are other factors which would cause activation to be unjust, the court may consider all factors including:

any strong personal mitigation;
whether there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation;
whether immediate custody will result in significant impact on others.

Only new and exceptional factors/circumstances not present at the time the suspended sentence order was imposed should be taken into account.

impose a fine not exceeding £2,500; OR
extend the operational period (to a maximum of two years from date of original sentence); OR
if the SSO imposes community requirements, do one or more of:
1. impose more onerous community requirements;
2. extend the supervision period (to a maximum of two years from date of original sentence);
3. extend the operational period (to a maximum of two years from date of original sentence).

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