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What if the Court asks for a Pre-Sentence Report about you?
After you have been convicted of an offence, the Court may feel that they need more information about you and your behaviour to make sure that they give you the most appropriate sentence. In these cases, they may ask Durham Tees Valley Probation Trust to complete a Pre-Sentence Report about you. There are three different types of report which could be completed.
Oral Pre-Sentence Reports:
You will be interviewed by a Court Officer employed by Durham Tees Valley Probation Trust, who will ask you questions about your background, your current situation and your offending. They may also liaise with other agencies that are working with you. After considering all of this information, the Court Officer will then verbally share with the Court their opinion about the causes of your offending and how likely it is that you will offend again, before suggesting the most appropriate sentence for you.
Oral Pre-Sentence Reports are usually completed within 24 hours of your conviction (when you have admitted guilt or been found guilty).
You will be interviewed by a Court Officer or an Offender Manager employed by Durham Tees Valley Probation Trust, who will ask you questions about your background, your current situation and your offending. They will also liaise with other agencies that are working with you. After considering all of this information, a written report will be prepared. In the report, the Court Officer or Offender Manager will explore your offending behaviour, discuss the current problems in your life which are linked to your offending and present their opinion about how likely it is that you will offend again, before suggesting the most appropriate sentence for you.
Fast Pre-Sentence Reports are usually completed within 5 working days of your conviction (when you have admitted guilt or been found guilty).
Adjourned Pre-Sentence Reports:
These Pre-Sentence Reports are usually requested if you have committed a very serious offence or if your case is considered to be particularly complicated. They include much more detail than the Oral and Fast Pre-Sentence Reports.
An appointment letter will be sent to your address inviting you to attend for an interview with an Offender Manager at your local Probation Office. This interview will usually last approximately 1 hour, during which you will be asked to discuss your previous and current offending in detail. You will also need to discuss your background and your current situation in an open and honest manner. For example, you will be need to talk about your financial situation, your relationships and your drug and alcohol use with the Offender Manager who is preparing your report.
After contacting local services (such as the Police and Social Services) and other agencies working with you, the Offender Manager will use all of the information which has been gathered to write a detailed report about your background, your offending and the issues in your life which may have been linked to it. The Offender Manager will also present their opinion about how likely it is that you will offend again and will share an opinion of how likely it is that your offending may cause harm to somebody in the future.
Adjourned Pre-Sentence Reports are usually completed within 15 working days (when you have admitted guilt or been found guilty).
