Schedule 7 – Suspended Prison Sentence: Further Conviction Or Breach of Requirement
810.This Schedule modifies Part 2 of Schedule 12 to the 2003 Act, which makes provision for dealing with an offender who fails to comply with the community requirements under a suspended sentence order, or is convicted of a further offence committed during the operational period. In the case of a suspended sentence order with community requirements made by a service court, paragraph 1 provides that certain provisions of Schedule 12 to the 2003 Act do not apply (chiefly so as to ensure that the court responsible for enforcing such an order in England and Wales is the Crown Court), and that certain other provisions of that Schedule are modified in accordance with paragraphs 4 to 9 of this Schedule. The effect is as follows:
811.Where, in the case of a suspended sentence order made by a civilian court, the responsible officer would lay an information before a justice of the peace alleging that the offender has failed without reasonable excuse to comply with the requirements of the order, he must instead lay the information before the Crown Court, and it is the Crown Court that can issue a summons or warrant.
812.If the Crown Court is satisfied that the offender has failed without reasonable excuse to comply with the requirements of the order, or convicts him of an offence committed during the operational period of the order, it must deal with him in one of the ways specified by paragraph 8(2) of Schedule 12 to the 2003 Act. It can order that the suspended sentence is to take effect, with or without an amendment to its original terms; or it can amend the suspended sentence order so as to impose more onerous requirements, extend the period for which the requirements apply, or extend the operational period. Where it orders that the suspended sentence is to take effect, the offender can appeal against that order as if it were a sentence.
813.The SCC must similarly deal with the offender in one of the ways specified by paragraph 8(2) of Schedule 12 to the 2003 Act if it convicts him of a further service offence committed during the operational period.
814.The Court Martial must deal with the offender in one of the ways specified by paragraph 8(2) of Schedule 12 to the 2003 Act if—
it convicts him of a further service offence committed during the operational period, or
he is convicted by a civilian court in the British Islands of an offence committed during the operational period, or is convicted of a service offence committed during that period, but is not dealt with in respect of the suspended sentence and subsequently appears or is brought before the Court Martial. The Court Martial can issue a summons or a warrant for this purpose. For this purpose a magistrates’ court in England and Wales, and any court in Scotland or Northern Ireland, must notify the Court Martial if it convicts the offender of an offence committed during the operational period.
815.Where the Court Martial or the SCC orders that the suspended sentence is to take effect, that court can make a custody plus order, but is not required to do so. The offender can appeal against the order as if it were a sentence.
816.In the case of a suspended sentence order without community requirements, paragraph 2 disapplies those provisions of Part 2 of Schedule 12 to the 2003 Act that relate to breaches of community requirements. If the offender is convicted of a further offence, paragraphs 6 to 9 modify Schedule 12 to the 2003 Act in the same way as for a suspended sentence order with community requirements.
