Discussing Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, the court quoted the Home Office guidance for practitioners involved such pilots: ‘The primary aim of the drug treatment and testing order is therefore to prevent further offending. It is envisaged that the vast majority of suitable candidates will be convicted of acquisitive crimes, committed in order to obtain money to buy drugs. Volume of offending is likely to be a more important consideration than the seriousness of individual offences. Nevertheless, the type of offence is more likely to be an effective indicator than either and so those convicted of burglary, robbery, theft (including shoplifting), perhaps embezzlement and any other acquisitive crimes are likely most frequently to provide offenders suitable for the drug treatment and testing order. Offenders convicted of drugs supply who are themselves habitual misusers, and are otherwise suitable for a community sentence, should also be considered.’ In respect of the case before the court: ‘With respect to the learned sentencing judge, we are of the view that he gave too great importance to the appellant’s scale of offending and therefore gave too little consideration to the appropriateness of a DTTO disposal. The sad fact is that it will often be the case that a candidate for a DTTO has been guilty of acquisitive offending on a significant scale to fund his drug addiction. DTTOs provide a chance for the offender to break his addiction and therefore cease offending. Thus a sentencing judge must be careful not to give disproportionate weight to the scale of offending and thereby diminish the usefulness both to the offender and to the community of a DTTO.’
Judges:
Field J
Citations:
[2003] 1 Cr App R(S) 89, [2002] EWCA Crim 2060
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Belli CACD 20-Oct-2003
The defendant, a drug addict, had been arrested and released on bail for a series of offences. He appealed against a sentence of two years and nine months. The court rejected a suggestion that he might be made the subject of a Drug Treatment and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 29 April 2022; Ref: scu.187010