Jersey Unreported Judgments

Inferior Number Sentencing - Breach of Community Service Order.

[2015]JRC024

Royal Court

(Samedi)

30 January 2015

The Attorney General

-v-

Claudine Francesca Oliver

Sentencing by the Inferior Number of the Royal Court, on a breach of a Community Service Order imposed on 10^th January, 2014, on the following charge:

Age:  40.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

See judgment AG v Power and Oliver [2014] JRC 009 for facts of original offence.  The defendant had been sentenced to an 18 month Probation Order and to complete 90 hours' Community Service Order with the custodial alternative being 3 months imprisonment.  

The defendant had completed 57.5 hours with an outstanding balance of 32.5 hours.  Community Service Order frustrated by presentation of numerous medical certificates by defendant which were inevitably backdated or received beyond a date acceptable to the Community Service.  There had been an apparent unwillingness to prioritise completing the Community Service Order.  The Service made sedentary work available to her but she had either failed to attend or offer any explanation in advance for her absences.  She had been given numerous opportunities to comply and had failed to take them. 

No breach of Probation Order contended albeit her apparent ill health had disrupted the efficiency of the Probation Order and various aspects of the work plan proposed had not been undertaken in consequence. 

Details of Mitigation:

The defendant acknowledged that she should and could have done better.  Her ill health and difficulties with her then accommodation were responsible for her failure to comply.  Submitted that there was now more stability in life and asked for an opportunity to complete Order. 

Previous Convictions:

9 convictions for 16 offences including possession of a controlled drug, assault on police, drunk and disorderly, shop-lifting, receiving stolen goods, motoring and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Conclusions:

Breach of Community Service Order: 1 month and 1 day's imprisonment.

Community Service Orders imposed on 10^th January, 2014, to be discharged.  Probation Order remains in place.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

The defendant had committed a serious offence and had been very fortunate to receive community service.  She had clearly performed some of the hours but had struggled to complete the order.  The Court was a little suspicious of the health excuses that had been supplied during the course of the order.  The Court was going to give her 6 weeks to complete it.  If she did not do so then inevitable that Attorney General would refer the matter back to Court and she should then expect to receive a custodial sentence.  The Court said that it would not be bound by how many hours that remained incomplete.  There was a suspicion that she had not been paying due attention to the Court's Order.  Sentence of 18 months' Probation Order remained in place.  Community Service Order extended for a period of 6 weeks to allow for completion. 

Breach of Community Service Order: Extension of 6 weeks in which to complete the Community Service Order. 

J. C. Gollop, Esq., Crown Advocate.

Advocate S. A. Pearmain for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE BAILIFF:

1.        You committed a serious criminal offence and you were, as the Court said on the last occasion, very fortunate to receive a Community Service Order for that offence.  You have clearly performed some of your community service but it also, equally clearly, has been a struggle for the community service manager because you do not tell him on a regular basis whether you are going to be fit to do it or not.  We can appreciate that there are sometimes going to be occasions when you do not realise that you are not fit, but frankly, they happen so often that one has to be a little bit suspicious about the excuse that has been put up.  We are giving you 6 weeks to finish the rest of that Community Service Order and you should realise that if you do not perform it within that period, we are quite sure that the Attorney General will bring it back to Court and we will then be looking at a custodial sentence, which is not going to be calculated on the basis of some percentage of what should be done.  It will be whatever the Court thinks is an appropriate sentence to impose and it may well be far greater than you might expect so you should know that.  The Court's order is there to be performed and there is a suspicion, I put it no higher than that at the moment, there is a suspicion that you are not paying due attention to it. 

2.        Make sure you appreciate that lesson is there and you have a further 6 weeks to complete the Community Service Order. 

Authorities

AG-v-Power and Oliver [2014] JRC 009.