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Analysis of Gender as a Factor associated with Custodial
Sentences for Breach of a Court order
Kathryn Hopkins, Miriam Light, and Jorgen Lovbakke, Ministry of Justice Analytical Services
Aim The aim of this analysis was to investigate whether gender is associated with being sentenced to custody for breach of a court order, independently of offence type, criminal history and other factors.
Approach This analysis used an extract from the Police National Computer (PNC) recording the sentence (disposal) given to all offenders convicted or cautioned for breach between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2011 plus their previous criminal history (38, offenders)^1. The analysis looks specifically at sentences given for breach of a court order (community order, conditional discharge, and suspended sentence order). Where an offender had more than one breach in 2011, only the first sentence for breach is included in this analysis.
Logistic regression models were built using the PNC data to explore whether any independent associations were observed between main (index) offence type, criminal history, gender, age, nationality, ethnicity, and being sentenced to immediate custody. These models cannot account for all factors which were used in making sentencing decisions: for example there is no record of all aggravating and mitigating circumstances which were taken into account by the sentencing court, including the plea (guilty or not guilty), which is known to affect sentencing (MOJ, 2010). However, this approach shows which factors (out of all factors in the model) were independently associated with being sentenced to prison, and can highlight where further exploration may be warranted.
Results Of the 38,041 offenders included in the PNC extract, 5,526 were female (15% of the cohort) and 32,515 were male (85% of the cohort). The number and type of court order which was breached is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Type of court order which was breached (first breach only) in England and Wales, 2011.
Breach offence No. % Breach of a community order 22,154 58 Breach of conditional discharge
Breach of suspended sentence order
Total 38,041 100
Totals may not add up to 100% because of rounding.
(^1) The sample was restricted to offenders where the offence that had been breached was the main (index) offence at the time of sentencing.
Table 2 shows the sentences received by these offenders for the breach of a court order, by gender. The most frequent sentence for all offenders was ‘other’ (42%), followed by ‘new court order’ (37%), then ‘immediate custody’ (14%). ‘Other’ sentences included: order revoked; order varied; bound over; order to continue; order amended; no action on breach; and order extended. This suggests that the most common sentence for breach of a court order was a modification to the original order.
Fourteen per cent of offenders (n= 5,173) received an immediate custodial sentence for breach of the court order. Female offenders were less likely to receive immediate custody following a breach of a court order (9%, n = 497) than male offenders (14%, n = 4,676), although this was not adjusted for the type of index offence, criminal history, or other factors.
Fines, fully suspended sentences, and conditional and absolute discharges made up fewer than 10% of sentences received.
Table 2. Sentences received for breaching a court order, (first breach offence only) in England and Wales, 2011, by gender.
Totals may not add up to 100% because of rounding.
Gender Female Male Total Sentence n % n % N % Absolute discharge 2 <0.1 20 0.1 22 0. Conditional discharge 60 1.1 193 0.6 253 0. Fully suspended 189 3.4 1,043 3.2 1,232 3. Fine 225 4.1 1,114 3.4 1,339 3. Immediate custody 497 9.0 4,676 14.4 5,173 13. Community sentence 2,010 36.4 12,107 37.2 14,117 37. Other 2,543 46.0 13,362 41.1 15,905 41. Total 5,526 100 32,515 100 38,041 100
Table 3 shows the number and percentage of offenders that received an immediate custodial sentence by the type of court order breached. Offenders on suspended sentences were the most likely to receive a custodial sentence, with over half (54%) of this group being sentenced to custody. Community orders were the least likely to receive an immediate custodial sentence (2.5% were sentenced to custody), followed by offenders who had breached a conditional discharge (7.5% were sentenced to custody).
Table 3. Percentage of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for breach of a court order, (first breach offence only), in England and Wales, 2011 by type of court order breached.
Breach offence
Number sentenced to custody
Total breaching court order
sentenced to custody Breach of community order 550 22,154 2. Breach of conditional discharge 638
Breach of suspended sentence order 3,^
Total sentenced to custody 5,173 38,041 13.
Gender The odds of male offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for breach of a court order were approximately 73% higher than the odds of female offenders receiving the same.
Age Each increasing year of age was independently associated with a less than 1% decrease in the odds of receiving an immediate custodial sentence for breach of a court order.
Ethnicity The odds of BAME offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for breach of a court order were approximately 39% higher than the odds of White offenders receiving the same.
Previous convictions and cautions The odds of receiving an immediate custodial sentence for breach of a court order increased by approximately 1% for each previous conviction or caution recorded.
Main (index) offence The index offence type (which first resulted in a court order) was a predictor of receiving an immediate custodial sentence for breach of a court order, with Theft and handling stolen goods, Burglary, and Robbery most likely to result in a custodial sentence for breach.
Type of court order breached Type of court order breached was a good predictor of custodial sentence with offenders who breached a suspended sentence order associated with an approximate 50 times higher odds of being sentenced to custody than offenders who breached a community order. Offenders who breached a conditional discharge were associated with approximately three times the odds of being sentenced to custody, compared with offenders who breached a community order.
Previous breaches Previous breaches were independently associated with receiving a custodial sentence, particularly breaches of the same court order (where the court order was imposed before 2011, the offender may have breached the sentence once or more before the breach offence in 2011 which is included in this study): an approximate 15% higher odds of receiving a custodial sentence was associated with each breach offence. Each breach of previous court orders was associated with an approximate 2% increase in the odds of receiving a custodial sentence.
Summary Male offenders were more likely to be sentenced to immediate custody for breaching a court order: the odds of male offenders receiving a custodial sentence was 73% higher than for female offenders.
A number of other factors were found to be predictive of custodial sentencing for breach offences: age; ethnicity; criminal history; index (main) offence type; type of court order breached; and number of previous breaches.
The differences in custodial sentencing rates may be due to factors which were not taken into account in the models. Sentencing outcomes may depend on a wide range
of other factors, e.g. family responsibilities, mental health issues, and opportunities for diversion from custody.
