UK guidelines say guilty pleas should be rewarded
Publish date: 30 September 2004
Issue Number: 1185
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Labour
New draft sentencing guidelines have been published in the UK which recommend that judges be able to reduce sentences by more than a third when defendants admit their guilt.
The Telegraph reports the guidelines have been drawn up by the Sentencing Guidelines Council, a new statutory body chaired by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf. The recommendations means that some murderers could serve less than the 15 years Lord Woolf regards as the minimum tariff. It is also in conflict with Home Secretary David Blunketts own recent guidelines that there is a minimum tariff of 30 years for the more serious categories of murder. The council will say rewarding a guilty plea with a discount saves time and money that would otherwise be spent on a contested trial. Full report in The Telegraph
