Sentencing Act 2020

Custody for life E+W

272 Offences other than murder E+W

(1) This section applies where a person aged at least 18 but under 21 is convicted of an offence for which the sentence is not fixed by law.

(2) The court must sentence the offender to custody for life if—

(a) the offence is punishable in the case of a person aged 21 or over with imprisonment for life, and the court considers that a sentence for life would be appropriate, or

(b) the court is required by section 273 [F1 , 274 or 274A] to impose a sentence of custody for life.

(3) Sections 230 (threshold for imposing discretionary custodial sentence) and 231 (length of discretionary custodial sentences: general provision), in particular, apply for the purposes of subsection (2)(a).

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 272(2)(b) substituted (28.6.2022) by Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (c. 32), ss. 3(8), 208(5)(b)

Commencement Information

I1 S. 272 in force at 1.12.2020 by S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2

273 Custody for life for second listed offence E+W

(1) Subsection (3) applies where—

(a) a court is dealing with an offender for an offence (“the index offence”) that is listed in Part 1 of Schedule 15,

(b) the index offence was committed on or after the relevant date,

(c) the offender is aged 18 or over but under 21 when convicted of the index offence, and

(d) the sentence condition and the previous offence condition are met.

(2) In subsection (1)(b), “relevant date”, in relation to an offence, means the date specified for that offence in Part 1 of Schedule 15.

(3) The court must impose a sentence of custody for life under section 272 unless the court is of the opinion that there are particular circumstances which—

(a) relate to—

(i) the index offence,

(ii) the previous offence referred to in subsection (5), or

(iii) the offender, and

(b) would make it unjust to do so in all the circumstances.

(4) The sentence condition is that, but for this section, the court would impose a sentence of detention in a young offender institution for 10 years or more, disregarding any extension period that it would impose under section 266.

Sections 230(2) and 231(2) apply for this purpose.

(5) The previous offence condition is that—

(a) when the index offence was committed, the offender had been convicted of an offence (“the previous offence”) listed in Schedule 15, and

(b) a relevant life sentence or a relevant sentence of detention for a determinate period was imposed on the offender for the previous offence.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (5), Schedule 15 is to be read as if Part 1 did not include any offence for which the date specified in that Part is after the date on which the index offence was committed.

(7) A life sentence is relevant for the purposes of subsection (5)(b) if—

(a) the offender was not eligible for release during the first 5 years of the sentence, or

(b) the offender would not have been eligible for release during that period but for the reduction of the period of ineligibility to take account of a relevant pre-sentence period.

(8) An extended sentence imposed under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 or this Code (including one imposed as a result of the Armed Forces Act 2006) is relevant for the purposes of subsection (5)(b) if the appropriate custodial term imposed was 10 years or more.

(9) Any other extended sentence is relevant for the purposes of subsection (5)(b) if the custodial term imposed was 10 years or more.

(10) Any other sentence of detention for a determinate period is relevant for the purposes of subsection (5)(b) if it was for a period of 10 years or more.

(11) An extended sentence or other sentence of detention is also relevant if it would have been relevant under subsection (9) or (10) but for the reduction of the sentence, or any part of the sentence, to take account of a relevant pre-sentence period.

(12) For the purposes of subsections (5) to (11)—

• “extended sentence” means—

  (a)

  a sentence imposed under section 254 or 266 (including one imposed as a result of section 219A or 221A of the Armed Forces Act 2006), or

  (b)

  a sentence imposed under section 226A, 226B, 227 or 228 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (including one imposed as a result of section 219A, 220, 221A or 222 of the Armed Forces Act 2006),

  or an equivalent sentence imposed under the law of Scotland [F2 or Northern Ireland];

• “life sentence” means—

  (a)

  a sentence of detention for life under—

  (i)

  section 250,

  (ii)

  section 91 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, or

  (iii)

  section 209 of the Armed Forces Act 2006,

  (b)

  a sentence of detention during Her Majesty's pleasure under—

  (i)

  section 259,

  (ii)

  section 90 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, or

  (iii)

  section 218 of the Armed Forces Act 2006, or

  (c)

  a sentence of custody for life under—

  (i)

  section 272 or 275 (including one passed as a result of section 210A, 217, 218A or 219 of the Armed Forces Act 2006), or

  (ii)

  section 93 or 94 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (including one passed as a result of paragraph 6 or 7 of Schedule 2 to the Armed Forces Act 2006 (Transitional Provisions etc) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1059)),

  or an equivalent sentence imposed under the law of Scotland [F3 or Northern Ireland];

• “relevant pre-sentence period”, in relation to the previous offence referred to in subsection (5), means any period which the offender spent in custody or on bail before the sentence for that offence was imposed;

• “sentence of detention” includes any sentence of a period in custody (however expressed).

[F4 (12A) If the proceedings for the index offence were instituted before IP completion day (see section 397(5)), the references to “an equivalent sentence” in the definitions of the following are to be read as also including an equivalent sentence imposed under the law of a member State—

(a) “extended sentence”, and

(b) “life sentence”.]

(13) An offence the sentence for which is imposed under this section is not to be regarded as an offence the sentence for which is fixed by law.

(14) Where an offence is found to have been committed over a period of 2 or more days, or at some time during a period of 2 or more days, it must be taken for the purposes of subsections (1)(b), (5)(a) and (6) to have been committed on the last of those days.

Textual Amendments

F2 Words in s. 273(12) substituted (31.12.2020) by Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17), s. 417(9), Sch. 22 para. 88(1)(a) (with Sch. 27) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1520, regs. 1(1), 5(5)(a))

F3 Words in s. 273(12) substituted (31.12.2020) by Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17), s. 417(9), Sch. 22 para. 88(1)(b) (with Sch. 27) (as amended by S.I. 2020/1520, regs. 1(1), 5(5)(a))

F4 S. 273(12A) inserted (31.12.2020) by Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17), Sch. 22 para. 88(2) (as inserted by The Taking Account of Convictions (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1520), regs. 1(1), 5(5)(b))

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 273(3) applied (with modifications) by 2006 c. 52, s. 218A(1B)(3) (as amended (1.12.2020) by Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17), s. 416(1), Sch. 25 para. 38(3)(5) (with s. 416(7), Sch. 27); S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2)

C2 S. 273(12A) modified (31.12.2020) by 2006 c. 52, s. 218A(6A) (as inserted by 2020 c. 17, Sch. 26 para. 12(1)(db) (as inserted by The Taking Account of Convictions (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1520), regs. 1(1), 6(2)(b)))

Commencement Information

I2 S. 273 in force at 1.12.2020 by S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2

274 Required sentence of custody for life for offence carrying life sentence E+W

(1) This section applies where a court is dealing with an offender for an offence where—

(a) the offender is aged 18 or over but under 21 when convicted of the offence,

(b) the offence is a Schedule 19 offence (see section 307), and

(c) the court is of the opinion that there is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm occasioned by the commission by the offender of further specified offences (see sections 306(1) and 308).

(2) The pre-sentence report requirements (see section 30) apply to the court in relation to forming the opinion mentioned in subsection (1)(c).

(3) If the court considers that the seriousness of—

(a) the offence, or

(b) the offence and one or more offences associated with it,

is such as to justify the imposition of a sentence of custody for life, the court must impose a sentence of custody for life under section 272.

(4) An offence the sentence for which is imposed under this section is not to be regarded as an offence the sentence for which is fixed by law.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C3 S. 274(3) applied (with modifications) by 2006 c. 52, s. 219(1A)(3)(5) (as amended (1.12.2020) by Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17), s. 416(1), Sch. 25 para. 39(3)(5)(7) (with s. 416(7), Sch. 27); S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2)

Commencement Information

I3 S. 274 in force at 1.12.2020 by S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2

[F5 274A Required sentence of custody for life for manslaughter of emergency worker E+W

(1) This section applies where—

(a) a person aged 18 or over but under 21 is convicted of a relevant offence,

(b) the offence was committed—

(i) when the person was aged 16 or over, and

(ii) on or after the relevant commencement date, and

(c) the offence was committed against an emergency worker acting in the exercise of functions as such a worker.

(2) The court must impose a sentence of custody for life under section 272 unless the court is of the opinion that there are exceptional circumstances which—

(a) relate to the offence or the offender, and

(b) justify not doing so.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1)(c) the circumstances in which an offence is to be taken as committed against a person acting in the exercise of functions as an emergency worker include circumstances where the offence takes place at a time when the person is not at work but is carrying out functions which, if done in work time, would have been in the exercise of functions as an emergency worker.

(4) In this section “relevant offence” means the offence of manslaughter, but does not include—

(a) manslaughter by gross negligence, or

(b) manslaughter mentioned in section 2(3) or 4(1) of the Homicide Act 1957 or section 54(7) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (partial defences to murder).

(5) In this section—

• “emergency worker” has the meaning given by section 68;

• “relevant commencement date” means the date on which section 3 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (required life sentence for manslaughter of emergency worker) comes into force.

(6) An offence the sentence for which is imposed under this section is not to be regarded as an offence the sentence for which is fixed by law.

(7) Where an offence is found to have been committed over a period of 2 or more days, or at some time during a period of 2 or more days, it must be taken for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) to have been committed on the last of those days.]

Textual Amendments

F5 S. 274A inserted (28.6.2022) by Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (c. 32), ss. 3(9), 208(5)(b)

275 Duty to impose custody for life for offence of murder E+W

(1) Where a person aged under 21 is convicted of—

(a) murder, or

(b) any other offence the sentence for which is fixed by law as life imprisonment,

the court must sentence the offender to custody for life.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply where the offender is liable to be detained under section 259 (detention at Her Majesty's pleasure for offender under 18).

Commencement Information

I4 S. 275 in force at 1.12.2020 by S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2

276 Custody for life: place of detention E+W

(1) An offender sentenced to custody for life is to be detained in a young offender institution unless a direction under subsection (2) is in force in relation to the offender.

This is subject to section 22(2)(b) of the Prison Act 1952 (removal to hospital etc).

(2) The Secretary of State may from time to time direct that an offender sentenced to custody for life is to be detained in a prison instead of a young offender institution.

Commencement Information

I5 S. 276 in force at 1.12.2020 by S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2