Thread by @ShonaMinson

Sentencing primary carers of dependants. A Thread. 🧵
The General Guideline: Overarching Principles (Sentencing Council 2019) set out the considerations for a sentencer when applying the mitigating factor 'sole or primary carer for dependents'.

The Guideline contains an 'Expanded Explanation' for the mitigation. 'For defendants on the cusp of custody, imprisonment should not be imposed where there would be an impact on dependants which would make a custodial sentence disproportionate to achieving the aims of sentencing

It also states: 'The court should ensure that it has all relevant information about dependent children before deciding on sentence.' and, 'The fact that a person being sentenced has dependent children is particularly relevant where they are on the cusp of custody ...'

What is 'the cusp of custody' ? It is when the sentence given could either be a term of immediate imprisonment or a sentence which allows the person to remain out of prison. There are two sentences which allow that to happen.

The first is when the court decide that the correct punishment is a term of imprisonment of up to two years max, but they suspend it for a period of time, & the person remains in the community unless they breach a term of the sentence. The second is a community sentence.

The mitigation of 'sole or primary carer' should be applied in every case where a parent of dependent children, for whom they are the sole or primary carer, is sentenced. In Foster's case it is mentioned in the sentencing remarks so we know that the Judge knew she had children.

The remarks are very brief. "You are a good mother to three children who would suffer from your imprisonment. One of your children himself has special needs which means that he is particularly reliant upon your love and support.'

There is case law on this point.

In the sentencing remarks the Judge said that had there been a guilty plea he would have reduced the term to 24 months and suspended the sentence. This case was a 'cusp of custody' case.

A thread by @SCynic1 explaining the calculations of sentence length made by the judge is here :

https://twitter.com/SCynic1/status/1668276136021749762?s=20

for more detailed information on the law, the rights of children whose parents are sentenced, the experiences of children whose mothers are imprisoned, the information the court should have about dependent children see shonaminson.com/information-fo…

A thread on the particular type of offence by @DrEmmaMilne is here:

https://twitter.com/DrEmmaMilne/status/1668286609412825088?s=20

I will probably be on @BBCr4today sometime tomorrow morning discussing this further. The sentencing remarks are available to read here: judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl…