Sentence Calculation Solicitors

Sentence Calculation Solicitors

Sentence calculation can be a complicated process, and it is not uncommon for prisoners to receive sentences that involve numerous different terms of imprisonment that run consecutively and concurrently.

When a person is sentenced to prison they receive information about their sentence in a Sentence Calculation Form. This may be hard to understand and it is important that the person understands the sentence they have received.

Our specialist team of Prison Law solicitors are available to provide help throughout the sentence calculation process.

Call us on 01865 592670 for help with sentence calculation. Alternatively, you can fill out our contact form or email us on prisonlaw@reeds.co.uk

Meet the team

How We Can Help

Our Prison Law Solicitors are some of the most experienced in the country. Many are also specialists in Criminal Defence law. We are instructed by people from across England and Wales and are known for our hard work, intelligence, and focus on protecting our clients’ best interests.

Regardless of what happened to result in you being held in custody, you have a series of fundamental human rights that must be observed. We are dedicated to ensuring our clients receive fair parole hearings and ‘nickings’ adjudications.

Although people aged between 18-25 are not sent to full adult prisons, they are often vulnerable. We provide expert advice and representation on all legal problems you may encounter in prison and explain things in plain English.

Our Prison Law Solicitors can help you with a full range of matters, including but not limited to sentence calculations, determinant and indeterminant recalls, independent adjudication, parole hearings, and more. Regardless of how complicated your case is, we can provide the expertise and experience you need.

We are regularly instructed to help people who have received incorrect Sentence Plans or sentence calculation issues. We understand it can be hard to challenge sentencing issues, especially if you are being denied Legal Aid because you have been told you have not exhausted all the complaint methods available within the prison system. You can be confident that we will swiftly spot any inaccuracies in your sentence calculation or Sentence Plan and robustly represent you to ensure matters are corrected.

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FAQ

When sentenced, it is essential that the prisoner knows whether the sentence they are serving is determinate or indeterminate.

Determinate sentences refer to sentences with a fixed end date. They will serve both time in prison and time back in the community ‘on licence’. The length and arrangement of determinate sentences can vary based off what the offence was and what the charge was.

Indeterminate sentences are those without a fixed end date. This includes life sentences, Detention for Public Protection (DPP), or Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences. It is worth noting that although since 2012 people cannot be sentenced to an IPP sentence however, many people who received this sentence are still serving them.

The court makes the decision about the length of the sentence. It is the prison, though, that works out the details about the sentence.

For those serving determinate sentences, a person should be informed about what day their sentence will end within five days of calculation. If the prison is waiting on further information, the prisoner may receive a provisional date. This means that it is subject to change.

The sentence calculation clerk will calculate the sentence by looking at key information such as:

    • The sentencing date

    • The length of the sentence

    • The type of sentence

    • The date the offence was committed

    • If someone has spent previous time in prison on remand for the same offence (if it was committed before 4 April 2005)

    • If the offence was committed after the 4th April 2005, the court may disregard the time spent on remand.

For each crime a person commits, they typically get a sentence for each one. The judge will examine each case separately and provide separate sentences.

However, this may result in a disproportionate sentence length for the crimes committed. To circumvent this problem, the judge may decide on a concurrent prison sentence.

With concurrent sentences, the offender will serve both sentences at the same time. For example, if one sentence is four months and the other is eight months, the prisoner will serve eight months in total.

In most cases, concurrent sentences will arise when the crimes are all related to one another. Either they involve the same person, the same repeated crime or a chain of events that stem from the initial crime.

For example, if someone is drink driving and injures another person they will be charged for two separate crimes. But because one is a result of the other, they may receive a concurrent sentence.

This is down to the judge’s discretion and may not always be the case.

The final sentence that is given should take into account all of the relevant offences and demonstrate the overall levels of offence.

Unlike a concurrent sentence, consecutive sentences are served one after the other. For example, if the first sentence is three months and the second sentence is seven months the prisoner will serve a total of ten months.

The court will look at each crime separately and provide separate sentences. They may decide that these sentences should be served individually so they will add the total length of the sentences together to determine the overall sentence.

Typically, a consecutive sentence will be given if the crimes committed are unrelated. For example, if a person commits a theft and then later drives drunk. The two crimes may have happened at similar times but one did not influence the other.

They may also be given when one (or more) of the offences has a minimum sentence time and a concurrent sentence would not meet that minimum.

Similarly, a consecutive sentence may be given when a concurrent sentence would not adequately reflect the overall criminality of the crimes.

If a consecutive sentence is decided upon, the judges and magistrates will ensure that the length of the sentences added together are fair. They may adjust the sentence length to make certain that the sentences are just.

They may do this by examining each crime separately and deciding which ones are the most serious or the most deserving of a specific sentence length.

When someone violates prison or licence rules, they may receive extra days in prison as a punishment. This does not count towards the initial sentence but is instead its own separate sentence.

Extended prison sentences were introduced in 2012. As previously mentioned, a determinate sentence requires half to be served in prison and half on licence.

Extended sentencing can be complex to calculate and in these cases the offence and sentence length will dictate the period spent in custody. With these sentences there is an early release option which means that the matter can be considered by the Parole Board earlier than the Conditional release date in order to determine if significant progress has been made.

There is also be an extended licence period.

With multiple changes to extended sentences, this process can often be confusing. In addition, we have found that on many occasions the Judge’s sentencing remarks have been incorrect which has meant that on reception into Custody the sentence calculation is different to what was mentioned in sentencing. In thesecases, it is important to instruct a prison law expert in order that they can obtain the relevant paperwork from the prison and check the sentencing guidelines. These are complex calculations that must follow the sentencing guidelines and any governing legislation.

For more information on extended sentences see our dedicated page here