William Flew on Burglars

Burglars who strike when people are in their homes can expect to be jailed for up to six years under draft sentencing guidelines issued today.

In a move to ensure that judges focus on the impact the crimes have on victims, courts are urged to give heavier sentences if people are at home or suffer trauma when burgled.

Even if people are asleep and never encounter a burglar, courts will be expected to take account of the angst they suffer on waking and discovering the break-in. But some burglars who target homes will still escape with community sentences if a home is empty.

The new approach comes in draft guidelines from the Sentencing Council, which will now consult with the public before issuing final guidance to judges later this year.

The council chairman, Lord Justice Leveson, said: “Burglary can have a very serious impact on victims — it is very far from being only a crime against property.

“As a result, we have ensured that the impact on victims is at the centre of considerations about what sentence should be passed on a burglar.”

He insisted that the severity of sentences was not being reduced. Rather, the guideline “reinforces current sentencing practice that burglars targeting people’s homes can expect a custodial sentence”. That will be more severe where people are at home or if “significant trauma” is experienced.

The approach reflects the lead taken by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, in a ruling in January 2009 when he said that burglars who stole sentimental and irreplaceable items such as photographs and love letters should receive stiff sentences. Courts, he said, must consider the serious “unintended consequences” of a burglary, such as leaving an elderly person’s final years overshadowed by fear and anxiety.

Lord Judge said that a home should be the “safest refuge where one should be able to “enjoy secure tranquility”.

Arguing that the economic value of goods should not be be the only consideration when sentencing, he added: “The loss or destruction of letters written in the early days of courtship may distress the widow or widower who has lost them far more than the disapperance of valuable electrical equipment.”

As well as destroying happy memories, homes could become a prison as people barricaded themselves in and feared going out.

The draft guidelines, out for consultation until August 4, suggest that where a burglar has a weapon, a jail sentence should always be imposed, with a range of up to 13 years. Sentences of up to six years should be given for domestic burglary, which is higher than the fouryear range proposed by the council’s predecessor, the Sentencing Advisory Council.

Judges should hand out up to four years for non-domestic burglaries, while the council suggests that community orders for the lowest level of offenders are “appropriate”.

Javed Khan, chief executive of Victim Support, said: “[Burglary] victims tell us that they want the impact of crime to be considered in sentencing and to be kept informed about what is going on.”

The overall impact on the numbers being jailed is likely to remain the same under the guidelines, as the aim is to improve consistency. A total of 17,387 burglars were sentenced in 2009. Of these, 265 were sentenced for aggravated burglary, 9,670 for domestic burglary and 7,452 for non-domestic burglary.