Where a mother responsible for the care of young children was convicted of an offence of dishonesty, with no aggravating feature such as violence, courts should generally look to see if any alternative to prison could be appropriate, and if possible take it. Here, the mother had fallen into debt and obtained credit dishonestly, knowing she would have no chance of repaying it. It was not a professional crime, and the interests of her children must be remembered. Where an offender was of previous positive good character, the offences were out of character with her normal behaviour, and there was every reason to think she would not offend again, the court should avoid sending her to prison and use other methods of repaying the harm done to the community.
Judges:
Lord Woolf, Lord Chief Justice, Mr Justice Mitchell and Mr Justice Keith
Citations:
Times 30-Jan-2002, Gazette 06-Mar-2002
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Criminal Sentencing
Updated: 29 August 2022; Ref: scu.167479