Sentencing Act 2020

Amendment of community requirements of suspended sentence order

25 (1) The appropriate court may, on the application of the offender or an officer of a provider of probation services, amend any community requirement of the suspended sentence order—

(a) by cancelling the requirement, or

(b) by replacing it with a requirement of the same kind, which the court could include if the offender had just been convicted by or before it of the offence in respect of which the order was made and it were then making the order.

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)—

(a) a requirement falling within any entry in the table in section 287 is of the same kind as any other requirement falling within that entry, and

(b) an electronic compliance monitoring requirement is a requirement of the same kind as any requirement within that table to which it relates.

(3) Sub-paragraph (1)(b) is subject to any provision that applies to the court in making a suspended sentence order as if the court were making the order.

(4) No application may be made under this paragraph while an appeal against the suspended sentence is pending, other than an application which—

(a) relates to a treatment requirement, and

(b) is made by an officer of a provider of probation services with the offender’s consent.

(5) Before exercising its powers under this paragraph, the court must summon the offender to appear before the court, unless—

(a) the application was made by the offender, or

(b) the order would cancel a community requirement of the suspended sentence order.

(6) If the offender fails to appear in answer to a summons under sub-paragraph (5) the court may issue a warrant for the offender’s arrest.

(7) If the offender fails to express willingness to comply with a treatment requirement as proposed to be amended under this paragraph, the court may—

(a) revoke—

(i) the suspended sentence order, and

(ii) the suspended sentence to which it relates, and

(b) re-sentence the offender for the offence in respect of which the suspended sentence was imposed.

(8) In dealing with the offender under sub-paragraph (7)(b), the court must take into account the extent to which the offender has complied with the requirements of the order.

(9) In this paragraph “treatment requirement” means—

(a) a mental health treatment requirement,

(b) a drug rehabilitation requirement, or

(c) an alcohol treatment requirement.