1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172 
At last Home Office moves to end 'sentencing lottery'
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• by Kathy Watson Following pressure from Commercial Motor and industry groups, the Home Office is to set up an independent body to monitor sentencing throughout England and Wales. But specialist transport lawyers fear this may lead to inflexibility.
Launching the initiative at a conference in Cardiff on Tuesday, Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "I am concerned about the wide variation in sentencing between geographical areas and strong local differences in sentencing culture. I am looking to set up new sentencing guidelines to improve consistency across the country."
In future courts will be required to take new guidelines into account and to give reasons for departures from them. A Home Office spokeswoman says: 'While we cannot expect uniform sentences across the country, where circumstances are similar there will be a consistency of approach.
'We need to reduce the regional variation in sentencing and make sure the punishment definitely fits the crime."
The announcement has met with a mixed response. A spokesperson for the Vehicle Inspectorate says: 'We will watch with interest what is put into practice. Anything that gives appropriate recognition to road safety-related matters will be welcomed by us."
A Freight Transport Association spokesman says: "We look to see those operators not playing by the rules being punished appropri ately—we welcome moves to ensure more uniformity There is a need for flexibility but when there is a case of like for like in one part of the country and another it is very frustrating when there are different fines for the same offence."
But Gary Hodgson, a partner in the transport law department of Ford and Warren, says: "This must not become a tariff that does away with magistrates' discretion. Every case is different."
Magistrates are already given sentencing guidelines, but this has not prevented wide vari ations across the country. Major discrepancies in sentences anc fines have been found for thosE guilty of making false records overloading and speeding.