This section is for people who have offended and members of their family and friends.

It will try and answer any questions you may have and what will be expected of you to successfully complete your sentence.

Probation staff work with offenders from their first appearance in court to beyond the completion of their sentence.  Your likely first contact with the National Probation Service will be when you have been found guilty of an offence.  Before passing sentence, the judge or magistrate will ask the probation court liaison officer to arrange for a pre-sentence report to be written about you. The report helps the court decide on the most appropriate sentence.

What is a Pre-Sentence Report?

This is a report that recommends the most appropriate sentence for you.

The court will tell our court liaison officer how serious they think your offence is and whether they are considering custody.  An officer of the probation service will interview you before writing the report.  This may be on the day of your court appearance or you may have to attend a probation office on another day and return to court at a later date.

The type of report we write about you depends on the seriousness of your offence and whether you have offended before.  The most in-depth report for more serious offences is known as a standard delivery report and is normally written within 15 days.  A fast delivery report is less detailed and will normally be written on the same day, although we have up to five days to complete the report if necessary.

What is contained in the report?

We will look at:

• the reasons why you committed the offence
• your attitude to any victims
• your background and what you feel about the offence
• the likelihood of you being willing or able to change your behaviour
• your risk of re-offending
• the risk you might pose to others.

What happens next?

When the report has been presented to the court a sentence will be passed.  This could be one of the following:

• Discharge
• Fine
• Community Order
• Prison

If you receive a discharge or fine you will have no further involvement with the probation service.

What is a Community Order?

A Community Order will be imposed for sentences that are serious but not so serious as to require you to go prison.  Sentencers will add one or more "requirements" to the order. These are conditions that you need to meet to successfully complete your order.  Generally, a less serious offence will result in one requirement added to the order. More serious offences may result in three or four requirements.

There are 12 requirements that the court can choose to add to the order.

• Unpaid work
• Specified activity - for example, basic reading and writing skills
• An offending behaviour programme
• Prohibited Activity - something you are not allowed to do
• Exclusion - an area where you are not allowed to go
• Curfew
• Residence Requirement
• Mental Health Treatment
• Drug Rehabilitation Requirement
• Alcohol Treatment
• Supervision
• Attendance Centre

If you fail to comply with the order you can be returned to court where you will usually receive a more severe sentence.

Prison

A range of prison sentences can be passed.  Find out more [1]