Is There Anywhere On The Internet I Can Find Out

[lilacben]

a reason why someone went to prison.? By that I mean the court charges.?

[Buenchico]

If it's a recent case you might find it referred to on a local newspaper website. However newspapers often delete reports after a certain time, so as not to contravene the underlying principles of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. (Further, individuals have the right to require Google to remove search results if they link to pages about them which are now outdated).

While court records are theoretically in the public domain, the details of most cases aren't available online unless the case was referred to the Court of Appeal.

[EDDIE51]

The Law Pages
http://www.thelawpages.com/
You need a free subscription to access it.
Or go to your local library and use their computers , most if not all public libraries have a subscription.
But you also need the persons name, the name of the court and the date of the trial to do a search of 'thelawpages'.

[lilacben]

Thats a shame... first court case was in magistrates court but further charges and convictions where committed a few months later .. resulting in prison..Would like to find out what was the charges for the second conviction// although they where on suspended sentence for the first a conviction at the time as well.

[EDDIE51]

If they committed a second offence while still serving a suspended sentence , the suspension can be immediately lifted and the offenders taken straight to prison to serve the full sentence. They do not even need to be taken to court again just put straight in jail. They may well have been jailed for breaking the first suspended sentence so that the police know where to find them while they investigate the other crime.

[Buenchico]

Try a simple Google search for, say,
"Trevor Blacksmith" "convicted"
or
"Trevor Blacksmith" "sentenced"
(remembering to include the quotation marks).
If there's anything relevant on a newspaper's website, it should show up.

[New Judge]

“They do not even need to be taken to court again just put straight in jail.”

No no no no noooooooooooo, Eddie !!!!

A suspended prison sentence cannot be activated other than by a court. It does not have to be the same court that imposed it but if it was imposed by a Crown Court it must return to a Crown Court to be dealt with – it cannot be dealt with in a Magistrates’ Court even if the subsequent offence which caused the sentence to be considered for activation would normally be dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court.

The reason for this is quite simple. Activation of a suspended sentence can occur if (a) any requirements of the suspended sentence order are breached or (b) if a further offence is committed. The Sentencing Council’s guidance on the activation of suspended sentences says this:

“If the offender fails to comply with a community requirement or commits a further offence during the operational period of a suspended sentence order, the court must activate the suspended sentence in full or in part unless it would be unjust in all the circumstances to do so.”

So, the defendant must be given the opportunity to admit or deny the breach or plead guilty or not guilty to the subsequent offence. He must also have the opportunity to make representations as to whether the sentence should be activated at all or in part. This can only be done in court.

Of course the police may decide to deny bail to somebody accused of an offence who is subject to a suspended sentence order (provided they have just cause in accordance with the Bail Act). But that’s quite a different matter.

[Buenchico]

I think that Eddie has confused a suspended sentence with the licence term for someone who has been released from prison part way through their sentence. A criminal conviction isn't needed for the licence to be revoked, and the offender returned to prison; it simply has to be evident that the offender has breached the terms of the licence.

[EDDIE51]

Thanks NJ for making it clearer , I meant that if they were arrested for a second offence while serving a 'suspended' they could be remanded in custody rather than being bailed while the police investigated. I think this procedure is quite common.

[lilacben]

Thankyou to you all... This person had just been given a suspended sentence and within six weeks did something else...this is what I am trying to find out , what he did do.? He was put straight into prison until his court appearance a couple of months later then given another sentence in prison. Have looked everywhere on the internet but come to avail.

[EDDIE51]

There will be nothing on the 'net ' or anywhere else until they actually attend court for the hearing for the second offence.If you know which court the case will be heard at you can go to the court and look on that day's 'case list' . Some courts put the daily case lists online but many do not. If the court is one that does not do online case lists, the only way is to go to the court every day and look at the days case list until you find it.