Can I Leave The Uk On A Community Order ?

[pk1971pk]

hello
I have just been sentenced with affray and was given a 12 month community order and 150 hours unpaid work

I have just had my meeting with my probation officer and iam fine with all the aspects of what is expected of me etc etc BUT he told me I would not be allowed to leave the uk on holiday or on business travel, is this correct?

I travel a lot out of the uk with business and also have just booked a holiday for may this year - I was under the impression as long as I completed the hours within 12 months that would be fine ?

9 times out of 10 my chosen date for the hours will be fine but when I travel with work or go on holiday (once) is the only time I will need to miss my chosen day

any help would be appreciated

thanks

[EDDIE51]

The sentence is a punishment , the major part of that punishment is loss of freedom. You have to do your community service when you are ordered to not when it suits you to do it.
if you had been sentenced to prison you could not 'clock out' of jail to go on holiday this is the same. You have to accept that your traveling is over until you finish your sentence.

[New Judge]

The short answer is that you have to comply with the requirements of the order as directed by your supervising probation officer. Whilst this is not a definitive document, the link below shows the London probabtion service's policy on travelling abroad:

http://hub.unlock.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/NPS-circular-01-2011-travel-abroad.pdf

You will note:

"To ensure that offenders subject to probation supervision while on a community order or licence are effectively managed throughout their order, temporary travel outside of the United Kingdom should not be granted other than in very limited and exceptional circumstances."

and:

"Requests for travel for business, recreational or holiday purposes will not of themselves be considered “exceptional circumstances” but each request
must be properly assessed on its own merits"

If you cannot reach agreement with your supervising officer that yours are "exceptional circumstances" you will need to go back to the court that handed down the sentence and have the issue ruled on by by the magistrates. It is likely the probabtion service will oppose your application and you may have a fight on your hands.

[EDDIE51]

There are 2 parts to your sentence , the 150 hours work and the 12 months supervision by the probation service. It is NOT just a case of doing the 150 hours work, you have to complete the 12 months probation as well.

[New Judge]

But reading on, I note (in relation specifically to Community Orders and Suspended Sentence Orders):

"Where an offender’s travel plans have no direct impact on their supervision plan or current reporting arrangements under national standards, “permission” to travel is not required."

It is likely that you will be required to report weekly for your unpaid work (and in fact will complete in in considerably shorter time than the duration of the order). I don't know if you have been handed a "Supervision" requirement as well, but if so you will be required to report probably weekly at first for that as well. You need to discuss with your supervising officer the impact that your travel plans have on the effective completion of your sentence but as I said earlier, they call the tune. If they believe your plans are incompatible with your order they can refuse you permission to travel.

[New Judge]

pk has not told us whether he has supervision as a requirement as well, Eddie. I suspect that he has, but Community Orders can consist of just one requirement (say, unpaid work). Such orders still have to have a stated duration but supervision for the entire period may not be required.

[EDDIE51]

NJ. pk1971pk says he has a 12 month community order AND 150 hours work order. I read that as having to do 12 months probation as well as 150 hours unpaid work.

[pk1971pk]

thanks for your replies

my whole charges are as follows:
community order 12 months
150 hours un paid work
compensation £250
no supervision order

I have just been phoned I have been allocated to a local charity every Wednesday - for 8 hours a day - report direct to the shop next weds

each weds will be ok 9 times out of 10 BUT iam booked to go on holiday end of may for 11 nights - as long as I keep each weds as promised and work well etc etc surly they will allow me to go on holiday (once) or if I need to go on business (once) this will be ok

[EDDIE51]

You can ask but as your travel plans DO 'have a direct impact on your reporting arrangements' you will need permission from the court or probation officer.

[New Judge]

Not necessarily so, Eddie, as I’ll explain.

A Community Order has to have a duration and one or more “requirements”. Examples of requirements are supervision (which most people understand as “probation”), unpaid work, curfew, alcohol treatment (there are many others less commonly used). An order does not have to contain a supervision element. Many do not. The most common example of this is where a simple punishment element is seen as necessary and where no pattern of offending behaviour seems to be apparent which would make supervision desirable. So an order consisting of just one requirement (say unpaid work or alcohol treatment for example) must still have a duration even though the requirement is likely to be completed well within that duration. Unpaid work, for example, is usually completed in stints of about seven hours once a week, meaning that 150 hours will normally be completed in about 22 weeks. The reason that an overall duration is stated on sentencing is so that there is an element of flexibility provided for both the offender and the probation service. The offender is still under the effects of an order for its entire duration even though the requirement(s) may have been completed. Should he reoffend during the duration of the order this will aggravate the new offence.

As I said earlier it will be up to the probation service to determine what impact travel will have on the completion of the order. Whilst the probation service try to accommodate offenders’ requirements as far as possible (particularly when it comes to their work arrangements) their overriding duty is to see that the court’s orders are properly complied with.