BRITAIN GOES SOFT ON MUGGERS

A lot of huffing and puffing but new "escape clauses" should ensure minimal punishment for most

Teenage muggers who rob with “minimal force” will be spared jail under new sentencing guidelines released yesterday. Juvenile muggers can also cite peer pressure as a mitigating factor, the Sentencing Guidelines Council says. Custody should be imposed routinely by the courts because robbery is a serious offence, the guidelines say; and there are few circumstances where a conviction will not result in a jail sentence. But a non-custodial starting point is considered to be justified where a young offender includes the threat or use of minimal force.

The council, chaired by Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the Lord Chief Justice, expect the guidelines to lead to a more consistent approach — pushing some sentences “up the scale”. Sentences will be particularly severe where a weapon is involved, the robbery is by a gang or at night, a disguise is used or the victim is chosen for his or her vulnerability. Carrying a weapon, for instance, even if it is not used, is likely to lead to a longer jail sentence. Kevin McCormac, secretary to the council, said: “Broadly sentences will be the same as at present under these guidelines. But they do fill in some gaps and will iron out inconsistencies which could lead to increases in some cases.”

Home Office figures released last week show that the average sentence length for robbery fell from 38.1 months in 1996 to 35.4 in 2001. They have since risen to 38.4 months. At present about one in three offenders aged 15 is jailed, rising to two in five for 16-year-olds and three in five for 17-year-olds. Those aged 18 to 20 are jailed in five out of six cases and adults over 21 are jailed in eight out of nine cases. The guidelines mainly follow the draft proposals issued in November last year and take account of the views of Parliament, the Home Secretary and other ministers.

But juvenile robbers will be able to put forward peer pressure as a mitigating factor when being sentenced, an idea proposed by Home Affairs Select Committee, which suggested that judges should treat young robbers differently if a crime was committed in a group.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, dismissed the idea yesterday as unprovable. “How do you prove peer pressure?” he asked. “This would simply be a get-out-of-jail-free card for the cynical type of criminal that commits violent robbery in the first place. “Robbery is one of the most serious crimes. It causes real and lasting distress and alarm to victims. The new guidelines send entirely the wrong message about how we deal with this offence.”

The guidelines, which come into force on Tuesday, state that “there may be factors of greater significance in cases involving young offenders including: age of the offender, immaturity of the offender and group pressure. Sentencers should recognise the varying significance of these factors for different ages.”

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