Family and Friends Forum

They usually tell you to get there for around 10am. There will be a list of cases and you might get called first, or have to wait around for hours.

The Prosecution outlines their case briefly, then the Defence presents it's mitigation, which takes longer. The judge will probably pass sentence straight away, but there may be delays if the necessary paperwork isn't available.

Little Robin3, I am so sorry you had to go through all that. My ex husband has sentencing at crown court in January. He distributed A, B and C images first offence but his probation officer said he will likely get a community order yet his solicitor said 5 years reduced to 3.5 as he entered a guilty plea. Your experience tends to suggest his solicitor might be right!

I hope that both you and daughter are doing ok. I have decided not to go to court, and your experience has made me realise that is the right choice.

Calypso, the starting point for distribution of Cat A is 3-years. So unless your husband has some serious aggravating factors it should be 2-years with a guilty plea. That brings it into the possibility of being suspended but that's not guaranteed. It will depend on the age of the victims, whether he has been involved in a "network" of offenders, tried to profit from it commercially etc. He needs to show remorse and that he has tried to seek help for his offending behaviour.

But distribution in small numbers of Cat A iwithout those surrounding aggravating factors would be nowhere near 5 years based on what others have got. 5-6 years is getting more into "took the pictures himself" territory.

The judge certainly made reference to the fact that my persons case had taken so long to get to court and asked the prosecution to explain why. I can't say for sure though if this helped with the judges overall decision.