Victims of crime are now given particular opportunity to say how the crime has effected them personally. Courts should, when sentencing, take a properly formed statement and any supporting evidence into account. The court must pass a sentence having regard to the offence and of the offender taking into account, so far as appropriate, the consequences to the victim. The victim’s opinions as to sentence, as opposed to its consequences, were not relevant. Victims should be advised of that. If opinions as to sentence were included in a statement, the court should pay no attention to them.
Judges:
Lord Woolf, Lord Chief Justice
Citations:
Times 06-Nov-2001
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 11 September 2022; Ref: scu.166730