Table Of ContentExploring Sentencing Practice in England and Wales
Also by Julian V. Roberts
POPULAR PUNISHMENT: The Normative Significance of Public Opinion for
Sentencing Theory and Practice (2014, co-editor )
SENTENCING GUIDELINES: Exploring the English Model (2013, c o-editor )
SENTENCING FOR MURDER: Exploring the Mandatory Sentence of Life
Imprisonment for Murder (2012, c o-author )
PRINCIPLES AND VALUES IN CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE (2012,
co-editor )
MITIGATION AND AGGRAVATION AT SENTENCING (2011, editor )
THE ROLE OF PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS AT SENTENCING: Theoretical and
Applied Perspectives (2010, c o-editor )
HEARING THE VICTIM: Adversarial Justice, Crime Victims, and the State (2010,
co-editor )
PRINCIPLED SENTENCING (THIRD EDITION) (2009, c o-editor )
PUNISHING PERSISTENT OFFENDERS: Community and Offender Perspectives
on the Recidivist Sentencing Premium (2008, author )
UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC ATTITUDES TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE (2005,
co-author )
THE VIRTUAL PRISON: Community Custody and the Evolution of
Imprisonment (2004, a uthor )
PENAL POPULISM AND PUBLIC OPINION (2003, c o-author )
RESTORATIVE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE (2003, c o-editor )
CHANGING ATTITUDES TO PUNISHMENT: Public Opinion, Crime and Justice
(2002, co-editor )
MAKING SENSE OF SENTENCING (1999) (c o-editor )
PUBLIC OPINION, CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE (1997, c o-author )
CONFRONTING SEXUAL ASSAULT (1994, c o-editor )
EVALUATING JUSTICE (1993, co-editor )
Exploring Sentencing
Practice in England and
Wales
Edited by
Julian V. Roberts
University of Oxford
Editorial matter and selection © Julian V. Roberts 2015
Chapters © Contributors 2015
Foreword © Paul Wiles 2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-39039-4
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First published 2015 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-48259-7 ISBN 978-1-137-39040-0 (eBook)
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Contents
List of Figures v ii
List of Tables i x
Foreword xi
Paul Wiles
Acknowledgements xiv
Notes on Contributors x v
1 Empirical Sentencing Research: Options and Opportunities 1
J ulian V. Roberts and Mike Hough
2 U sing Court Records for Sentencing Research:
Pitfalls and Possibilities 1 8
M andeep Dhami and Ian Belton
3 S entencing Practices and Trends: 1999–2013 3 5
J ulian V. Roberts and Keir Irwin-Rogers
4 E xploring Public Knowledge of Sentencing Practices 6 1
M artina Feilzer
5 D efining and Measuring Consistency in Sentencing 7 6
J ose Pina-Sánchez
6 S entencing Women: An Analysis of Recent Trends 9 3
C arol Hedderman and Rebecca Barnes
7 W omen and Sentencing: Challenges and Choices 118
L oraine Gelsthorpe and Gillian Sharpe
8 S entencing and Dependents: Motherhood as Mitigation 137
S hona Minson
9 P aying for the Past: The Role of Previous Convictions at
Sentencing in the Crown Court 1 54
J ulian V. Roberts and Jose Pina-Sánchez
10 P enitence and Persistence: How Should Sentencing
Factors Interact? 173
H annah Maslen
v
vi Contents
11 E xploring the Impact of Sentencing Factors on
Sentencing Domestic Burglary 1 94
K eir Irwin-Rogers and Thomas W. Perry
12 M ore Than One Crime: Sentencing the
Multiple Conviction Offender 2 21
Natalia Vibla
13 S entencing for Murder: Drawing Lessons from Research 235
B arry Mitchell and Julian V. Roberts
14 S entencing Young Offenders 2 51
M ax Lowenstein
Index 263
List of Figures
3.1 T rends in all disposals, all courts, 1999–2013 38
3.2 T rends in cases sentenced, magistrates’ courts, 1999–2013 38
3.3 T rends in cases sentenced, Crown Court, 1999–2013 39
3.4 R ates of all disposals, all courts, 2013 39
3.5 R ates of all disposals, magistrates’ courts, 2013 43
3.6 R ates of all disposals, Crown Court, 2013 43
3.7 T rends in custody, suspended sentence orders and
community sentences, all courts, 1999–2013 44
3.8 T rends in immediate custody, all offences,
magistrates’ courts and Crown Court, 1999–2013 47
3.9 T rends in community sentence orders, magistrates’
courts and Crown Court, 1999–2013 48
3.10 T rend in fines, magistrates’ courts, 1999–2013 48
3.11 T rends in suspended sentence orders, magistrates’
courts and Crown Court, 1999–2013 54
4.1 T rends in levels of punitiveness 71
5.1 C ustody rates for assault offences by court 84
5.2 T op ten courts with highest and lowest probabilities of
custody for common assault before and after the new
guideline came into force 85
5.3 B etween court variability in the probability of custody
before and after the new guideline came into force 86
5.4 V ariability in the probability of custody, considering
aggravating and mitigating factors, before and after the
new guideline came into force 88
8.1 P otential influences upon judicial decision making when
sentencing a mother with dependent children 143
9.1 T heoretical models for the use of previous convictions at
sentencing 1 58
9.2 T heoretical projections and empirical trends: effects of
number of previous convictions on probability of custody 166
9.3 E ffect of previous convictions on probability of custody
controlling for other factors 167
vii
viii List of Figures
10.1 R elationship between number of previous
convictions and the probability of custody for an
assault offence, by remorse 1 87
11.1 S entence severity by mitigating factor 202
11.2 S entence severity by aggravating factor 206
11.3 Sentence severity by number of previous convictions 209
List of Tables
1.1 Empirical and recommended sentence reductions for a
guilty plea 7
3.1 Cases sentenced in the magistrates’ courts and the
Crown Court, 1999–2013 37
3.2 Volumes and rates of all disposals, all courts, 1999–2013 40
3.3 Volumes and rates of all disposals, indictable offences,
all courts, 2003–2013 42
3.4 Volumes and rates of all disposals, Crown Court, 1999–2013 45
3.5 Volumes and rates of all disposals, magistrates’ courts,
1999–2013 46
3.6 Trends in immediate custody rates by principal offence
group, magistrates’ courts, 2003–2013 50
3.7 Trends in immediate custody rates by principal offence
group, Crown Court, 2003–2013 51
3.8 Trends in community sentence rates by principal offence
group, magistrates’ courts, 2003–2013 52
3.9 Trends in community sentence rates by principal offence
group, Crown Court, 2003–2013 53
3.10 Trends in suspended sentence order rates by offence group,
magistrates’ courts, 1999–2012 55
3.11 Trends in suspended sentence order rates by offence group,
Crown Court, 1999–2012 56
3.12 Average custodial sentence lengths, all courts, all
persons, 1996–2013 58
3.13 Average custodial sentence lengths, Crown Court, all
persons, 1999–2013 58
3.14 Average custodial sentence lengths, magistrates’ courts,
all persons, 1999–2013 58
3.15 Average custodial sentence length by offence group,
Crown Court 5 9
4.1 Public estimates of the average custody rate for domestic
burglary/rape, 2011 65
6.1 The prison population under sentence 2000–2012 99
6.2 Number and percentage of women convicted of
indictable offences 101
6.3 Number of out of court disposals and court proceedings
by gender, all ages, 2007–2011 102
ix
