Sentencing
How the court decides the punishment after a guilty plea or a guilty verdict.
Judges and magistrates must follow sentencing guidelines from the Sentencing Council. These set out how to weigh how serious the offence was and how much harm it caused. Pleading guilty earlier usually brings a reduction.
Sentences include discharges, fines, community orders, suspended sentences and immediate custody (prison).
Official sources
This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. The official sources above are the authority.
See also
Sentencing · How a case moves from charge to sentence · All explainers
