If you are sentenced to custody you will be imprisoned immediately unless you receive:

» A suspended sentence (custody minus) 

» A deferred sentence 

» Intermittent custody

The Court Duty Officer will visit you before you travel to the prison to make sure that you understand your sentence and what will happen. They will make sure that a copy of your pre sentence report is sent to the prison with you. This will give the prison staff some information about you when you arrive.

Although your case will be assigned to a member of probation service staff, you may not have much continuous contact with us until nearer to your release. There will be probation service staff based in prison who will work with you whilst you are there.

 

Custodial sentences

Less than four years - if you are sentenced to less than four years you will spend only part of this sentence in custody. The duration will depend upon the total length of the sentence.

After your release from prison, we will supervise you for the rest of the sentence. You will usually carry out periods of unpaid work. There may also be other restrictions and activities that the court has imposed for this remaining time.

We will contact you on your day of release and arrange an appointment for within three working days. If you are carrying out unpaid work as part of your licence requirement the first work session will take place within 10 days of your release on licence. We will explain any other rules that you must stick to/things that you must do whilst you are under our supervision. Where possible we will arrange appointments and activities so that they do not conflict with employment/education.

Remember: if you break any of the rules during your time under our supervision you could be sent back to prison to finish your sentence.

Longer sentences (more than four years) - your case will be allocated to one of our probation officers. However you will not have much contact with this officer until nearer the time of your release or release on licence. Around one month before your release we will write to you and a visit may be arranged to discuss arrangements. The timescales for contact are the same as for sentences of less than four years.

Public protection sentences

Imprisonment for public protection - the Court will set a minimum time that must be served in prison before you can be considered for parole. If you are successful, you will spend at least ten years on licence under our supervision.

Extended sentence for public protection - you will spend part of your sentence in prison and the rest on licence under our supervision. The court will tell you how long you will spend in prison. You may apply for parole when you are half way through the prison term but release is not automatic. On your release from IPP or EPP we will contact you on your day of release and arrange an appointment for within three working days.

If you are carrying out unpaid work as part of your licence requirement the first work session will take place within ten days of your release on licence. We will explain any other rules that you must stick to/ things that you must do whilst you are under our supervision. Where possible we will arrange appointment and activities so that they do not conflict with employment/education.

Intermittent custody

This allows you to spend either weekdays or weekends in prison. The rest of the time will be under our supervision doing unpaid work or under other restrictions set by the court.

Suspended sentence (custody minus)

If your offence is serious enough for a prison sentence the court may impose a suspended sentence. They may do this to see if you can be prevented from reoffending. They will also impose conditions such as unpaid work, curfew or supervision that must be carried out during the suspended sentence period.

The magistrate will tell you how long the suspended sentence period will last and also how long you will be imprisoned if you break the rules during this period.

If you do break the rules of a suspended sentence you can be sent straight to prison. You don't have to reappear in court first.

You will be supervised by us whilst you are serving your suspended sentence term. We will:

» Contact you within one working day to arrange an appointment for within five working days

» Tell you about any conditions that have been imposed by the court eg unpaid work. 

» We will arrange appointments for you for any of these activities 

» where possible we will arrange your unpaid work or other supervision sessions to avoid conflict with work/education commitments

Life sentences

If you are sentenced to life the judge will announce the minimum amount of time that you will spend in prison. Release on licence can be applied for after this point. If successful, you will be on licence and under our supervision for the rest of your life. We will:

» Contact you within one working day, or before, to arrange an appointment for within five working days

» Explain the conditions of your licence and that you may be returned to prison if you break the rules