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In this age of social media, new sentencing guidelines are being drafted to enforce tougher punishments on young people who film instances of knife crime and upload them to online platforms in England &Wales. Within gangs, this has become an increasingly popular method of humiliating victims and asserting dominance - something that the law is attempting to crack down on. This is only one of a number of ‘aggravating factors’ for judges and magistrates to consider when sentencing defendants convicted of possessing a blade or offensive weapon in public, or making threats.
The Sentencing Council of England & Wales is due to publish a new draft of guidelines, which will take a number of changes in law and court judgements into account. The Sentencing Council is a body that was configured in April 2010 to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing in order to help tackle the UK’s so-called ‘postcode lottery of punishment’. The latest proposals don’t include offences where a blade or weapon is used to actually harm a victim, nor the use or possession of firearms.
The Sentencing Council stated that the filming and sharing of knife attacks has been listed as an ‘aggravating factor’ because of its increasing commonness. The ‘aggravating factors’ for youth offenders include the proposal that “deliberate humiliation of victims, including but not limited to filming of the offence, deliberately committing the offence before a group of peers with the intent of causing additional distress or circulating details/photos/videos etc of the offence on social media or within peer groups”.
Included in this call for tougher punishments are those who attempt to conceal their identity by wearing a hood or balaclava, and anyone who targets vulnerable people or those working in the public sector. These guidelines - which list possible ‘aggravating factors’ - can be referred to by judges and magistrates when weighing up sentences.
Courts currently deal with a very large number of cases involving dangerous weapons. According to the consultation document, approximately 7,800 adult offenders were sentenced in 2015. A new ‘two strikes’ regime was introduced by the government last year which meant that adults caught in possession of a bladed object more than once face a minimum custodial sentence of six months. Courts must impose the minimum punishment unless there are circumstances specific to the case which make doing so inappropriate.
Recently released figures showed that almost half of repeat offenders actually avoided jail in nearly a year after the change took effect. Looking at the bigger picture, the proportion of knife possession offenders sentenced to immediate custody is rising, while average prison terms have also increased. The Sentencing Council noted that these new guidelines could lead to an increase in sentence levels. Within youth cases, however, courts will be persuaded to analyse the individual in greater detail with regards to age, maturity and background.
If you have been charged with a criminal offence, then contact one of our criminal defence lawyers for expert legal advice today.
