In law, the judgement of a court stating the punishment to be imposed following a plea of guilty or a finding of guilt by a jury.

Before a sentence is imposed, the antecedents (criminal record) and any relevant reports on the defendant are made known to the judge and the defence May make a plea in mitigation of the sentence.

Apart from a term of imprisonment, a British court May impose fines, probation orders, community-service orders, attendance-centre orders, hospital orders, guardianship orders, bind over the person in question, and (for juveniles only) enforce either a care order or detention in a young offenders institution.

If a term of imprisonment is imposed, it May take several forms, including a concurrent sentence (served at the same time as one or more other sentences when the accused has been convicted of more than one offence); an extended sentence (longer than the maximum prescribed for a particular offence); a suspended sentence (one that does not take effect immediately); and a partly suspended sentence (in which the offender serves only part of the sentence).

Both a suspended and partly suspended sentence may take full effect if the offender commits another offence.

For more information contact:
Gregg Manning