Sentencing Act 2020

Availability etc of community order

14 (1) In section 204 (exercise of power to impose community order: general considerations), in subsection (2), at the end insert—

“This is subject to section 204A (persistent offender previously fined).”

(2) After that section insert—

“204A Exercise of power to impose community order: persistent offender previously fined

(1) Subsection (2) applies (in addition to section 204(2)) where—

(a) a community order is available to a court dealing with an offender by virtue of section 202(1A)(b) (offender fined at least three times), and

(b) the offence is not punishable with imprisonment by that court.

(2) The court may not make a community order unless it also considers that, having regard to all the circumstances including the matters mentioned in subsection (5), it would be in the interests of justice to make a community order.

(3) Subsection (4) applies where—

(a) a community order is available to a court dealing with an offender,

(b) the offence is punishable with imprisonment,

(c) on three or more previous occasions a sentence consisting only of a fine has been passed on the offender on conviction by a court in the United Kingdom of an offence committed by the offender after reaching the age of 16, and

(d) despite the effect of section 65 (effect of previous convictions in determining seriousness), the court would not (apart from this section) regard—

(i) the current offence, or

(ii) the combination of the current offence and one or more associated offences,

as being serious enough to warrant a community sentence.

(4) The court may make a community order in respect of the current offence instead of imposing a fine if it considers that, having regard to all the circumstances including the matters mentioned in subsection (5) it would be in the interests of justice to make a community order.

(5) The matters referred to in subsections (2) and (4) are—

(a) the nature of the offences to which the previous convictions mentioned in—

(i) section 202(1A)(b), or

(ii) as the case may be, subsection (3)(c),

relate and their relevance to the current offence, and

(b) the time that has elapsed since the offender’s conviction of each of those offences.

(6) Nothing in this section limits the extent to which a court may, in accordance with section 65, treat any previous convictions of the offender as increasing the seriousness of an offence.”