This Prison Reform Trust discussion paper considers the sentencing of women with children and provides a number of proposals intended to ensure children are taken into account when it comes to sentencing decisions for mothers.
It begins with a summary of these proposals, then gives a contextual overview of the sentencing of women, looks at mothers and their children affected by the criminal justice system, existing guidance in England and Wales with an account of inconsistent practice, before finally outlining the proposals in greater detail. The paper considers research on mothers' imprisonment, relevant sentencing law, perspectives of imprisoned mothers, consultations with various organisations, and identifies good practice in the UK and internationally in order to inform the discussion. It also includes in Appendix 1 a summary of the Court of Appeal decision in R v Petherick where a defendant's sentence was reduced due to the effect parental imprisonment would have on the defendant's child.
Read more about the Sentencing of Mothers below:
