How ‘deferred sentencing’ allowed her to walk free

WHEN she appeared in court hours after crashing her BMW, Katie Price’s lawyers said she would check into rehab to address her drinking and drug use.

As a result, the celebrity was handed a ‘deferred sentence’ by magistrates. This means the court agreed to delay her punishment for a set period of time, subject to the defendant agreeing to comply with conditions imposed by the bench.

Case law sets out that when a defendant has a ‘legitimate expectation’ of a certain type of sentence, a court cannot later impose a more severe one.

Under deferred sentencing powers, when the case returns to court the judge can only impose a prison term if the offender has not complied with the conditions imposed at the earlier hearing. By going to the Priory – and avoiding any more driving offences – Price appears to have done everything she promised to do. Guidelines state that deferred sentences ‘will be appropriate only in very limited circumstances’. They also say that sentences should only be applied ‘should the offender be prepared to adapt [their] behaviour in a way clearly specified by the sentencer’.

They add: ‘If the offender fails to comply with any requirement imposed in connection with the deferment, or commits another offence, he or she can be brought back to court.’ Judges are told that ‘the harm caused by the offence, the culpability of the offender and any previous convictions will be relevant to the assessment’. For drink-driving offences, prison should be reserved ‘for the most serious offences’ – which may explain why magistrates agreed to impose a deferred sentence in September.

Spokesmen for the judiciary and Crown Prosecution Service declined to offer further explanation for Price’s sentencing.