Court Services staff work in the three Crown and six Magistrates court in Cheshire to provide accurate information and expert advice for judges and magistrates. This information is usually provided in the form of a report.
The purpose of such a report is to provide the sentencing court with information about the offender and to assist the court in deciding on a suitable sentence. Unless it is deemed unnecessary by the court, a pre-sentence report is required. A report would not usually be requested in cases where a fine or discharge would be an appropriate sentence.
In order to avoid delays in their preparation, the new Criminal Justice Act 2003 has put into place measures to streamline the system of Pre-Sentence Reports preparation where they are deemed necessary (when a custodial sentence or a community penalty is an issue for example).
Under the Act the court must assess in a structured way, the 'seriousness' of the offence (high, medium or low) and pass the assessment and the reasons for the assessment on to the Probation Service when requesting a PSR. An indication of the purpose of the proposed sentence (eg punishment, rehabilitation, reparation etc.) should also be given. This will assist the report writer in the preparation of the report and the report will be focussed on specific sentencing options which should be clearly stated at the time the report is requested.
Information about the defendant can also affect the level of seriousness. The system allows this to be taken into consideration at the time of the report request rather than at the time of sentencing.
The actual sentencing decision is made by the judge or magistrate.
There are three types of report that can be requested by the court:
An oral report is where the court requires only a limited amount of information. Court staff verbally assist the court to move to sentence, avoiding delays.
A 'fast-delivery' (expedited) report can either be completed on the day of sentence or within five days. These will only be suitable where the cases are of 'low seriousness' or even 'medium seriousness' and where the court indicates that a community sentence is being considered. This report may also be suitable in custody cases where the issues are straightforward and the court does not require extensive information. These reports will not require the Probation Service to carry out a full assessment of the offender using the Offender Assessment System (OASys).
A 'standard delivery' (adjourned) PSR is based on a full OASys assessment suitable for 'medium' and 'high' seriousness cases when the court has indicated a possible community sentence or where a custodial sentence is being considered.
Information concerning the offender's suitability for bail and whether there are places vacant in approved premises can be supplied to the court by probation staff.