Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T10:36:17.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter Five - Intoxication as a sentencing factor

Mitigation or Aggravation?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2011

By
Nicola Padfield
Edited by
Julian V. Roberts
Julian V. Roberts
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Get access

Summary

The criminogenic effect of alcohol is well known; in a significant proportion of offences, particularly those involving violence, the accused was intoxicated at the time of the offence. Should the fact that he or she was drunk be taken into account and, if so, how? There are three possible positions: intoxication could either mitigate or aggravate the ‘deserved’ penalty, or the offender’s lack of sobriety might be immaterial to sentencing.

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

This chapter explores this common circumstance which has such important consequences for sentencing across offences and jurisdictions. In the conclusion of his book Alcohol and Crime (2006), Dingwall writes:

Given the large number of defendants who raise intoxication as a mitigating factor at the sentencing stage, the paucity both of a guiding approach and of academic attention to the issue is alarming. (p. 170)

Type
Chapter
Information
Mitigation and Aggravation at Sentencing , pp. 81 - 101
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashworth, A. 2010 Sentencing and Criminal JusticeCambridge University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashworth, A. 2010 Sentencing Guidelines and the Sentencing CouncilCriminal Law Review389Google Scholar
Bache, J.Fassenfelt, J. 2010 Committed in DrinkMagistrate 66 10Google Scholar
Cabinet Office 2010 http://programmeforgovernment.hmg.gov.uk/justice/
Dhami, M.Souza, K. 2009 The Study of Sentencing and its Outcomes: A Pilot ReportLondonMinistry of JusticeGoogle Scholar
Dingwall, G. 2006 Alcohol and CrimeCullomptonWillan PublishingGoogle Scholar
Dingwall, G.Koffman, L. 2008 Determining the Impact of Intoxication in a Desert-Based Sentencing FrameworkCriminology and Criminal Justice 8 335CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fowles, T.Wilson, D. 2010 The National Probation Service’s Work with Alcohol-Misusing OffendersHoward Journal 49 182Google Scholar
Gelsthorpe, L.Morgan, R. 2007 Handbook of ProbationCullomptonWillanGoogle Scholar
Harrell, W. A. 1980 Alcohol Misuse and Prior Alcohol-Related Convictions as Predictors of Probation Officer Perceptions and SentencingSubstance Use and Abuse 15 1271Google Scholar
Harrell, W. A. 1981 Effects of alcohol use and offenders’ remorsefulness on sentencing decisionsJournal of Applied Social Psychology 11 83CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales 2010 Alcohol Services in Prisons: An Unmet NeedLondonHMIPGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, J.Hough, M. 2007 Mitigation: The Role of Personal Factors in SentencingLondonPrison Reform TrustGoogle Scholar
Law Commission of England and Wales 2009 Intoxication and Criminal LiabilityLondonParliamentGoogle Scholar
McKenna, K. 2007 Evaluation of the North Liverpool Community Justice CentreLondonMinistry of JusticeGoogle Scholar
McSweeney, T.Webster, R.Turnbull, P.Duffy, M. 2009
Maruna, S. 2011 Re-entry as a Rite of PassagePunishment and Society 13 3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prison Reform Trust 2004 Alcohol and Reoffending: Who Cares?LondonPrison Reform TrustGoogle Scholar
Roberts, J. 2008 Aggravating and Mitigating Factors at Sentencing: Towards Greater Consistency of ApplicationCriminal Law Review264Google Scholar
Roberts, J.Hough, M.Jacobson, J.Moon, N. 2009 Public Attitudes to Sentencing Purposes and Sentencing Factors: An Empirical AnalysisCriminal Law Review771Google Scholar
Rumgay, J. 1998 Crime, Punishment and the Drinking OffenderBasingstokeMacmillanCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sentencing Guidelines Council 2004 www.sentencing.council.co.uk
Shapland, J. 1981 Between Conviction and Sentence: The Process of MitigationLondonRoutledgeGoogle Scholar
Thomas, D. A. 2010 Current Sentencing PracticeLondonSweet & MaxwellGoogle Scholar
von Hirsch, A. 1993 Censure and SanctionsOxfordClarendon PressGoogle Scholar
Walker, N. 1999 Aggravation, Mitigation and Mercy in English Criminal JusticeLondonBlackstoneGoogle Scholar
Ward, M. 2010 www.alcoholconcern.org.uk
2010
2009
2008
1980
2010
2010
2003
2010
2010
2010
2008
1975
1988
1977
2010
2008
2006
2010
2010
2009

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×