New Sentencing Guidelines for Perverting the Course of Justice
Two new guidelines have been published this week by the Sentencing Council. The guidelines will apply to defendants being sentenced for offences of perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation.
There are currently no guidelines for the offence of perverting the course of justice and only limited guidance in the magistrates’ courts for witness intimidation.
The new guidelines, which apply to adults only, will come into effect on 1 October 2023.
Perverting the course of justice offences cover a wide range of conduct, from giving false information to police officers at a traffic stop, tampering with evidence or giving false information during a police interview. Such behaviour could lead to offenders avoiding prosecution or innocent people being wrongly investigated or charged, potentially even being convicted and sent to prison.
Some notable examples of defendants convicted of perverting the course of justice include Chris Huhne, a politician who persuaded his wife to accept a speeding ticket on his behalf, the author and politician Jeffrey Archer who was convicted of lying in a perjury trial and Jonathan Aitken, another politician convicted of lying in a libel trial.
Witness intimidation offences include pressuring witnesses to withdraw allegations or witness statements or withhold evidence in court, using actual violence or threats of violence. Such offences could lead to people withholding important evidence critical to the outcome of a case.
Examples of witness intimidation cases include a police officer who threatened a witness and a man who threatened a witness in a rape trial involving his brother.
How common are these offences?
In 2021, around 570 offenders were sentenced for perverting the course of justice. As this is a ‘common law offence’ all of these were sentenced at the Crown Court. Around half of these offenders (51 per cent) were sentenced to immediate custody and a further 43 per cent were given a suspended sentence order. Of those sent straight into custody, the average sentence was 1 year. Community orders accounted for 4 per cent of offenders sentenced, less than 0.5 per cent were given a fine, 1 per cent were given a discharge and 2 per cent were recorded as otherwise dealt with.
In 2021, around 210 offenders were sentenced for intimidating a witness, with around two thirds (66 per cent) sentenced at the Crown Court and the rest (34 per cent) sentenced at the magistrates’ courts. Most offenders (57 per cent) were sentenced to immediate custody. A further 29 per cent received a suspended sentence, 9 per cent received a community order, 1 per cent received a fine and 4 per cent were recorded as otherwise dealt with.
The average custodial sentence was 10 months.
Will the new guidelines impact sentence length?
Overall it is anticipated that the new guidelines will improve consistency of sentencing for these offences and not lead to any notable changes in sentencing severity.
There are, however, risks that the guidelines will be misinterpreted or the data on which the guidelines were based proves inaccurate.
The most serious offences of perverting the course of justice will have a starting point of 4 years’ imprisonment, with a range of 2-7 years. The most serious offences of witness intimidation will have a starting point of 2 years’ imprisonment, with a range of 1-4 years.
As a firm, we will carefully monitor sentences imposed following the implementation of these guidelines to ensure that clients we represent are not unduly penalised by such errors.
How can we help?
If you need specialist advice in relation to any criminal investigation or prosecution, from the initial investigation through to court proceedings, please get in touch. Call John Howey on 020 7388 1658 or email jhowey@jfhlaw.co.uk. Let us help.
Image credit: Copyright © 2006 Kaihsu Tai. licensed under CC BY 2.0.
