In our criminal courts the protocols for magistrates and judiciary are simple.'If custody is inevitable, a pre-sentence report is not needed.'
How do I know? Well, in my days as a Sheffield JP, I approached The Chief Clerk to The Justices, David White, who told me this in those precise words.
However, never once in Sheffield Courts did I ever see anybody jailed without the said reports.
The function of such reports is surely to give magistrates extra insights to help them get it right - but only if needed. But just what is the point of having them for their own sake? Why build in a three week delay into the system? Isn't justice delayed, justice denied?
Remember too the inbuilt, pro-defendant bias in all reports which greatly limits their usefulness.
PROBATION OFFICERS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO RECOMMEND CUSTODY!
