Crimes of Violence: Coronavirus

(asked on 20th April 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that the use of coronavirus as a weapon is treated as an aggravating factor in sentencing.


Answered by
Chris Philp Portrait
Chris Philp
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 28th April 2020

It is vital that offenders using coronavirus to threaten others during this pandemic face the full force of the law.

Such behaviour is an assault and where this is directed at an emergency worker we have recently doubled the maximum penalty for assault from 6 to 12 months’ imprisonment. We have already seen significant sentences imposed on those using coronavirus as a threat.

Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent Courts. On 8 April 2020, the Sentencing Council also published interim guidance for sentencers in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The interim guidance clarifies that, when sentencing common assault offences involving threats or activity relating to transmission of Covid-19, courts should treat this as an aggravating feature of the offence, meaning a more severe penalty could be imposed than would have been the case absent the aggravating factor (subject always to the maximum penalty for the offence).

Reticulating Splines