WILLIAM JOHN STEVEN WARD v. PROCURATOR FISCAL, HAMILTON [2000] ScotHC 88 (20th September, 2000)

WILLIAM JOHN STEVEN WARD v. PROCURATOR FISCAL, HAMILTON [2000] ScotHC 88 (20th September, 2000)

The sheriff erred in law by imposing a sentence of imprisonment for breach of a supervised attendance order without obtaining a current report on the complainer's circumstances as required by section 204(2A) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. Such a sentence is incompetent and must be quashed.

Citation
[2000] ScotHC 88
Parties
Complainer: William John Steven Ward; Respondent: Procurator Fiscal, Hamilton
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Procedural Posture
Bill of Suspension (treated as Petition to the Nobile Officium) / Appeal
Outcome
sentence quashed and varied
Legal Topics
Sentencing, Supervised Attendance Orders, Imprisonment for Breach of Order, Requirement for Reports Before Imprisonment
Criminal Law Criminal Procedure Sentencing Supervised Attendance Orders Imprisonment for Breach of Order Requirement for Reports Before Imprisonment

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Parties

William John Steven Ward

Complainer

Procurator Fiscal, Hamilton

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Bill of Suspension (treated as Petition to the Nobile Officium) / Appeal

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the sheriff erred in imposing a sentence of imprisonment for breach of a supervised attendance order without obtaining a report as required by section 204(2A) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995
  2. 2 Whether such an order constitutes a 'sentence' for the purposes of section 204(2) of the 1995 Act

Ratio Decidendi

The sheriff erred in law by imposing a sentence of imprisonment for breach of a supervised attendance order without obtaining a current report on the complainer's circumstances as required by section 204(2A) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. Such a sentence is incompetent and must be quashed.

Court Disposition

sentence quashed and varied

Orders

  • The sentence of imprisonment is quashed.
  • The order is varied to reduce the outstanding hours to 48.5 hours of supervised attendance.