Sentencing this week
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Hi All,
After all the waiting, the sentencing seems to be coming up too quickly. I made the decision at the knock that I couldn't remain married to him. We share a child and we've wanted to keep his life steady through all this. To the outside world it all looks like nothing changed. Very few people know about our situation. Very few people know that he doesn't live with us. Living this double life has been exhausting but worth it to preserve as much of my child's childhood as possible.
Quite frankly I'm terrified. A prison sentence is a real possibility. The cascade from that will be extensive. Besides the emotional fallout, practical consequences will be devastating. We will loose our home, etc. I'm going to tell our child this weekend of the sentencing hearing. I'm dreading this. I've planned a little family Christmas for the day before. I'm writing him a letter that he can hold onto during the day of court. I'm at loss..what can I get him as a Christmas present? Do I buy him some clothes he can put in his prison bag?
This weekend we'll go through various bits of handover - important papers, etc.
If he does get a custodial sentence, where is he likely to end up? How long until we can know where he is, visit, etc.?
For those that have been through this, what do you wish you'd known and/or what did you find useful?
I feel so out of my depth.
Thanks.
Best wishes
Hx
After all the waiting, the sentencing seems to be coming up too quickly. I made the decision at the knock that I couldn't remain married to him. We share a child and we've wanted to keep his life steady through all this. To the outside world it all looks like nothing changed. Very few people know about our situation. Very few people know that he doesn't live with us. Living this double life has been exhausting but worth it to preserve as much of my child's childhood as possible.
Quite frankly I'm terrified. A prison sentence is a real possibility. The cascade from that will be extensive. Besides the emotional fallout, practical consequences will be devastating. We will loose our home, etc. I'm going to tell our child this weekend of the sentencing hearing. I'm dreading this. I've planned a little family Christmas for the day before. I'm writing him a letter that he can hold onto during the day of court. I'm at loss..what can I get him as a Christmas present? Do I buy him some clothes he can put in his prison bag?
This weekend we'll go through various bits of handover - important papers, etc.
If he does get a custodial sentence, where is he likely to end up? How long until we can know where he is, visit, etc.?
For those that have been through this, what do you wish you'd known and/or what did you find useful?
I feel so out of my depth.
Thanks.
Best wishes
Hx
I know its been a few days since you posted this so not sure if you have found answers to the questions you were looking for.
If given a custodial sentence he will initially go to the Category B Local prison which serves whichever court he is sentenced at, Cat B Locals act as reception units and are usually based in the same city as the crown court i.e. sentenced in a Leicestershire court initially sent to HMP Leicester. He should be permitted a short phone call to someone during reception to let you know that he has arrived and where he is, after that he won’t be able to make phone calls until his phone account is set up and his phone numbers list has been checked and approved. Once you know where he is and what his prison number is you can book visiting though how this is done varies from site to site.
If given a custodial sentence he will initially go to the Category B Local prison which serves whichever court he is sentenced at, Cat B Locals act as reception units and are usually based in the same city as the crown court i.e. sentenced in a Leicestershire court initially sent to HMP Leicester. He should be permitted a short phone call to someone during reception to let you know that he has arrived and where he is, after that he won’t be able to make phone calls until his phone account is set up and his phone numbers list has been checked and approved. Once you know where he is and what his prison number is you can book visiting though how this is done varies from site to site.
Hi
Thanks for this. It was a rough day and week. Sentencing has been postponed as the judge ordered that probation write an addendum to their report. Court was changed from local Crown Court to one 1 1/2 hours away. If that happened again and he was given a custodial sentence, would he then end up in a category b prison closest to the court or one closer to our area?
Thanks
Hx
Thanks for this. It was a rough day and week. Sentencing has been postponed as the judge ordered that probation write an addendum to their report. Court was changed from local Crown Court to one 1 1/2 hours away. If that happened again and he was given a custodial sentence, would he then end up in a category b prison closest to the court or one closer to our area?
Thanks
Hx
Hy Hycinth,
I'm sorry things have been adjourned as this happened to us and we had another 6 long weeks to wait after being mentally prepared. It was tough! But if the judge has asked for extra information take heart that the judge isn't one who decides on sentencing based on their own thoughts and feelings which they can do. (I'm assuming these extras are mitigation in favour of your person to give extra context.)
Because of our delay there was a lot of extra context for our son, not to excuse but to give a clearer picture of both his life when he offended and also the consequences for himself and others if he went to prison. We believe this made a lot of difference.
As for prisons, I did a lot of research before sentencing and I think that basically someone would go to the nearest receiving prison to where they were sentenced (but this might be the same as the first one if the court is in the same district). However, with overcrowding I think that the normal structure is a bit chaotic at the moment and prisoners sometimes go wherever there is space, but ideally that won't be the final destination although sometimes it is, especially for short sentences. Once in prison, though they might stay in one place for the whole sentence they can be moved whenever the powers that be decide which can be very disruptive for families - I hope all the circumstances are considered as having family to offer support is known to be hugely helpful in rehabilitation so it seems short sighted to move someone where visits would be very hard if not impossible. I suspect you are 'preparing for the worst' whilst 'hoping for the best'. We did that and our hopes were realised so please try to keep a tiny bit of hope in your heart as well as researching the worst outcome.
I'm sorry things have been adjourned as this happened to us and we had another 6 long weeks to wait after being mentally prepared. It was tough! But if the judge has asked for extra information take heart that the judge isn't one who decides on sentencing based on their own thoughts and feelings which they can do. (I'm assuming these extras are mitigation in favour of your person to give extra context.)
Because of our delay there was a lot of extra context for our son, not to excuse but to give a clearer picture of both his life when he offended and also the consequences for himself and others if he went to prison. We believe this made a lot of difference.
As for prisons, I did a lot of research before sentencing and I think that basically someone would go to the nearest receiving prison to where they were sentenced (but this might be the same as the first one if the court is in the same district). However, with overcrowding I think that the normal structure is a bit chaotic at the moment and prisoners sometimes go wherever there is space, but ideally that won't be the final destination although sometimes it is, especially for short sentences. Once in prison, though they might stay in one place for the whole sentence they can be moved whenever the powers that be decide which can be very disruptive for families - I hope all the circumstances are considered as having family to offer support is known to be hugely helpful in rehabilitation so it seems short sighted to move someone where visits would be very hard if not impossible. I suspect you are 'preparing for the worst' whilst 'hoping for the best'. We did that and our hopes were realised so please try to keep a tiny bit of hope in your heart as well as researching the worst outcome.