Things to consider:
The youth offender panel may refer a child back to court if it appears to the youth offender panel to be in the interests of justice for the RO (or each of the ROs) to be revoked. The circumstances in which the panel may make a referral for early revocation include the child making good progress under the contract. The panel refer may request the court to:
- revoke the RO (or each of the ROs); or
- revoke the RO (or each of the ROs) and to deal with the child for the offence(s) in respect of which the revoked order was made (resentence)
A court re-sentencing a child following revocation of a RO must deal with the defendant in any way in which the original sentencing court could have dealt with the child, but the court may not make a new RO. When re-sentencing the child for the original offence, the court must have regard to the circumstances of the referral back to court by the youth offender panel and the extent of the child’s compliance with the terms of the youth offender contract. A court may only revoke the RO and re-sentence if the child is present in court. The court’s powers are not affected by the expiry of the compliance period of the youth offender contract. A decision to revoke a RO may be appealed to the Crown Court.
Further resources:
- Para 7, Schedule 4 of the Sentencing Act 2020; previously para 5(5), Schedule 1 of the Power of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000
- In what circumstances can the youth offender panel refer a child, who is on a Referral Order, back to court?
- What are the court’s powers when dealing with a referral back to court for early revocation of a Referral Order (RO) due to change of circumstances?
- What are the court’s powers when dealing with a referral back to court for early revocation of a Referral Order (RO) where a child is making good progress under the contract?