Every day, judges and magistrates preside over cases coming before them in court and, if an offender is found guilty, they use sentencing guidelines to determine what the appropriate sentence should be.
But what if the offender committed more than one offence? What happens then? Do the courts work out the sentence for each individual offence and then add them together? The simple answer is usually no.
At the start of the sentencing process for multiple offences, the judge or magistrate must arrive at the sentence for each offence following the offence specific guideline. If these are sentences of imprisonment, this will result in a number of sentences which, if added together, could lead to the offender serving a disproportionately lengthy sentence in prison.
To help courts reach a just and proportionate sentence in such cases and make sure that all courts approach the sentencing in a consistent way, the Sentencing Council developed the Totality guideline in 2012.
Your Journey to Healing Starts Here 