Legal Commentary
| Author | Nigel Stone |
| Published date | 01 April 2011 |
| Date | 01 April 2011 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1473225410394277 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Corresponding author:
Nigel Stone, School of Social Work and Psychology, Elizabeth Fry Building, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK.
Email: n.stone@uea.ac.uk
Legal Commentary
Light at the End of the Tunnel?
Developments in Sentencing the
Dangerous Young Offender
Nigel Stone
Protective sentencing powers in respect of young offenders deemed ‘dangerous’ under the
provisions of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 2003 Part 12 Chapter 5 have been addressed
in previous Commentaries, particularly in Stone (2006). These measures, concerned with
the management of risk and the prospect of preventing harm to the public rather than with
retribution, deserve to be revisited in light of significant amendments introduced to the
2003 Act by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act (CJIA) 2008, particularly in respect
of scope to impose an extended sentence for public protection (EPP) as an alternative to
an indeterminate term of detention (DPP) and having regard to the limited guidance to
date from the erstwhile Sentencing Guidelines Council (2008; 2009 para. 12.12).1
The 2003 Legislative Framework
To recap, CJA 2003 in its original version specified that a young offender aged under-18,
convicted of a ‘specified’ ‘violent’ or ‘sexual’ offence (i.e. an offence listed in Schedule
15 Parts One or Two of the Act) should be deemed dangerous if in the opinion of the court
‘there is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm occasioned by the
offender’s commission of further specified offences’. A defendant convicted of a specified
offence that is also designated as ‘serious’ (i.e. if punishable in the case of a person aged
18 or older by ten years imprisonment or longer) and meeting that test is eligible for:
detention for life under CJA 2003 s.226(2) where the offence can attract a life sentence
and the offender qualifies for a discretionary life term under the exacting criteria devel-
oped by the Court of Appeal based on offence gravity and continuing serious danger;2
Youth Justice
11(1) 77–89
© The Author(s) 2011
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DOI: 10.1177/1473225410394277
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