Lovett in action—sentencing in civil anti-social behaviour contempt cases (Coates v Turner)

Article summary

Dispute Resolution analysis: What sentencing guidelines will the court consider when imposing sanctions for breaching a court order aimed at preventing anti-social behaviour? Following the case of Lovett v Wigan Borough Council, the Civil Justice Council’s (CJC) report on ‘Anti-Social Behaviour and the Civil Courts’ will be relevant but not determinative, given the different sentencing objectives in contempt cases, although the report provides ‘appropriate guidance for the level of sentence’. Despite the court approving the use of the tables in Annex 1 of the report, practitioners are reminded that ‘the CJC guidelines are not a straight-jacket and judges have considerable discretion as to how they should categorise the breaches’. Coates v Turner was a case where the appellate court accepted Mr Coates’ argument that the sentence was manifestly excessive on the basis of a miscategorisation of the breaches by the sentencing judge. Written by Alexander West, barrister at Albion Chambers, Bristol.