Member

As the Bill stands, the presumption of a suspended prison sentence will apply to those for whom the starting point for their sentence is 18 months. Sentences of that length are not given lightly—someone has to have done something pretty serious for that to be the starting point. However, by pleading guilty and getting a third off, the offender may have to be kept out of prison as they then would be at the 12-month sentence point and be covered by the Bill. Amendments 32 and 36 would mean that this would not be the case as the sentence would have to be one of 12 months or less before the credit for a guilty plea was taken into account.