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In any one year, we would prepare in the region of ten thousand reports to help decision makers
in criminal justice.
As our work
has developed
and progressed
into the arena of assessment and management of risk
and of public protection
our contribution to sentencers and helping sentencers arrive at a decision has
become much more complex
and is much more about the assessment of risk and need and what needs to be put in
place for that offender to reduce the likelihood of them re-offending. Well, as you
can imagine the Magistrate Court's a very busy court and there are a lot of
defendants going through on any particular day. We're ordering a lot of
pre-sentence reports on any list
and the Probation Officers are extremely helpful not only from we would order a
report
would they follow-up on that and speak to defendants, take details from them, to
make sure they understand what the process for pre-sentence report is.
But they will also be very helpful if we have any queries on any reports which
we've received and were actually in the process of sentencing.
So the Probation Officers really are invaluable in making sure that the court
runs smoothly under this much business as possible is completed.
Could the Probation Officer explain the accommodation issues with Mister Carrs
as outlined in the Pre-Sentence Report?
Yes, Your Worship
Mister Carrs is currently
living with his maternal Grandmother.
He admits that this allows him to indulge in alcohol and also drug misuse
And so at this time we would recommend
that alternative accommodation be sought
for Mister Carrs
The Probation staff have great expertise and great experience
in dealing with offenders
and they can bring a great deal of insight and provide a great deal of
information to the judges, whenever they're considering their sentencing
decisions.
They will deal with issues such as the lifestyle issues for the defendant
They can deal with offence analysis, risk
of harm
and also then make recommendations as to what are suitable community based orders
if that is appropriate and when you consider that
defendants in the Magistrates Court
very often have dysfunctional lives, they may have mental health issues
they may have substance
abuse issues.
To get that sort of information and expertise
from professionals
is very very important and is very enlightening.