Recommendation 107

Lord Justice William Davis explained that, according to sentencing guidelines: “The seriousness of the offence should be the initial factor in determining which requirements to include in a community order.” He added, “if, in the individual case, there is a clear requirement for some fairly intensive drug intervention for a low-level shoplifter, that is what should happen”. 199 The Magistrates’ Association also proposed that magistrates are granted the power “to add rehabilitative provisions to sentences that currently do not cross the community penalty threshold”, such as “a small number of unpaid work hours, or one or two rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) appointments” as a substitute for fines that an offender would otherwise be unable to pay. 200