A BREACH OF TRUST
This is what happened to the 9,420 people taken to court for breaking probation rules in 2017
MORE than a third of offenders who are taken to court for breaking the rules of their probation are sent to prison.
Post-sentence supervision is a type of probation handed to adults who had been sentenced to fewer than two years in prison.
The supervision monitors things like good behaviour, and tries to help rehabilitate them into society. For example, any work they do must be approved by a supervisor.
New data from the Ministry of Justice shows that 9,420 people were taken to court for breaching their post-sentence supervision in 2017.
Just over a third (3,307) of those offenders received prison sentences of up to seven days in custody.
The remaining 6,113 (or 66 per cent) were allowed to stay out of prison. Of those, 2,136 (or 23 per cent) were given fines of up to £1,000, while 1,072 (11 per cent) saw no further action taken.
A further 1,023 people (11 per cent) were given supervision default orders which include either unpaid work of between 20-60 hours or a curfew lasting for a minimum of 20 days.
Meanwhile, 1,196 offenders ended up with a punishment that was unrelated to their breach of probation.
For example, if an offender also breaks the terms of a suspended sentence at the same time as breaching probation, they may end up having that sentence revoked and being given a new sentence, such as prison.
The remaining 686 people received other outcomes - including the breach not being proven in court.
The data does not include breaches that were withdrawn or those that did not have a recorded outcome at the time the figures were published.
Commenting on the figures, the MOJ said: “Public protection is our highest priority and any offender caught breaching their licence faces being immediately recalled to prison.”
In January last year, The Howard League for Penal Reform published a letter in response to the Sentencing Council’s consultation on breach guidelines.
The letter noted that:
“The increased use of recall to prison for breach has been one of the main drivers to the prison population.
“Most recalls to prison are for technical breaches of licence conditions, not the commission of new crimes. “Sent enc er sm us tc on sid er the reasons for a lack of compliance, including an individual’s personal circumstances and external factors. “They must also consider what steps have been taken prior to breach proceedings to encourage compliance.”