Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015

Aggravating factors N.I.

6—(1) Where a court is considering for the purposes of sentencing the seriousness of an offence under section 1 or 2, the court must treat the following as aggravating factors—

(a) the offence was committed by a public official in relation to the performance of her or his duties;

(b) the offence was committed by a member of the family of the victim;

(c) the offence was committed by a person in a position of trust;

(d) the offence was committed against a child;

(e) the offence was committed against a vulnerable adult;

(f) the offence was committed by the use of threats against a member of the family of the victim;

(g) the offender deliberately or by gross negligence endangered the life of the victim;

(h) the offence caused serious harm to the victim; or

(i) the offence was committed by a person who has previously been convicted—

(i) of an offence under section 1 or 2;

(ii) of an offence under any provision repealed by this Act;

(iii) in respect of anything done outside Northern Ireland which was not an offence mentioned in sub-paragraph (i) or (ii) but would have been such an offence if done in Northern Ireland.

(2) In this section—

“public official” means—

(a)

a member of the Northern Ireland civil service or the United Kingdom civil service;

(b)

a person employed by a body established by an Act of Parliament or by Northern Ireland legislation;

(c)

the holder of an office established by an Act of Parliament or by Northern Ireland legislation;

(d)

a police officer;

“serious harm” has the same meaning as in Article 3 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008.