Domestic abusers could face harsher punishments under new sentencing guidelines

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Domestic abusers could be handed harsher punishments under new guidelines that have been supported by MPs.

The Sentencing Council, which draws up recommendations for judges and magistrates across England and Wales, previously said the offences are “particularly serious” and should be treated accordingly.

The Commons Justice Committee warned that the guidelines could see prison terms increased at a time when British jails are nearing capacity.

As of Friday, there were 85,469 people in jail in England and Wales, which is 1,090 below the “useable operational capacity” of the estate.

The population, which has almost doubled since the early 1990s, has been in the spotlight amid rising levels of violence and self-harm.

The committee said that the risk of sending more people to prison for longer with the new domestic abuse guidelines was justified, adding: “Seeking to ensure that domestic abuse and intimidatory offences are treated particularly seriously is likely to have an inflationary influence on sentencing.

“We have considered whether signalling the gravity of such offences warrants a potential increase in resources for imprisonment and we believe it does.”

MPs acknowledged that resources for both community and custodial sentences were “finite and already stretched”, urging the Ministry of Justice to make whatever provisions needed for the change.

They were responding to guidelines drawn up by the Sentencing Council that were put out for public consultation in March.

“Previously, guidelines stated that offences committed in a domestic context should be seen as no less serious than those in a non-domestic context, whereas the new guideline emphasises that the fact an offence took place in a domestic context makes it more serious,” the body said at the time.

“This is because domestic abuse is rarely a one-off incident, it is likely to become increasingly frequent and more serious the longer it continues, and may result in death. It can also lead to lasting trauma for victims and their children.”

The guidelines cover all crimes occurring within a domestic context, such as assault or sexual offences, as well as "intimidatory" offences including harassment, stalking and so-called ”revenge pornography”.

The Council said the guidelines themselves were not expected to have a significant effect on the types or length of sentence given but noted that separate changes brought in by the Government doubled the maximum sentences for stalking and harassment, meaning other offences had to keep up.

MPs also called for emotional and psychological abuse and control to be taken as seriously as physical attacks, and for the impact on children to be among the “aggravating” factors used to increase prison terms.

“We recognise that recorded offences related to domestic abuse are largely, but not exclusively, perpetrated by men and boys against women and girls,” the committee said in a report.

“In giving a message to sentencers and (via them) to perpetrators, victims, and wider society that offences related to domestic abuse warrant a more serious response than similar offences conducted in other circumstances, the overall effect of the guideline is to condemn such behaviour in the strongest terms.”

There is no specific law criminalising domestic abuse, with the behaviour charged using specific offences including assault, harassment, stalking, threats to kill and controlling or coercive behaviour.

Figures released by the Crown Prosecution Service earlier this month showed police were referring fewer cases, prompting alarm from campaigners.

Domestic abuse-linked offences make up more than 80 per cent of prosecutions under the violence against women and girls (VAWG) umbrella.