Consecutive Sentence
Where a defendant is sentenced for multiple offences, a structure in which sentences are served one after another rather than at the same time (concurrently). The Sentencing Council's Totality guideline governs when each structure is used and how the overall term is adjusted.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
The Sentencing Council's Totality guideline explains that sentences can be structured as concurrent (to be served at the same time) or consecutive (to be served one after the other), and that there is no inflexible rule as to how the sentence should be structured. When sentencing for three or more offences, a combination of concurrent and consecutive sentences may be appropriate, with the choice depending on factors such as whether offences arise from the same incident or are of a similar kind.
The guideline warns against simply adding together the notional sentence for each offence: if consecutive, it is usually impossible to arrive at a just and proportionate sentence simply by adding together notional single sentences, so a downward adjustment is ordinarily required. This reflects the overriding principle of totality, which applies whenever a court is dealing with more than one offence, and which is designed to ensure the total time actually to be served reflects the overall seriousness of the offending rather than being a mechanical sum of individual sentences.
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Official sources
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