Custody Threshold
The statutory rule that a court must not pass a custodial sentence unless the offence, or the offence combined with associated offences, was so serious that neither a fine alone nor a community sentence can be justified (Sentencing Act 2020, s.230).
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Section 230 of the Sentencing Act 2020, headed 'Threshold for imposing discretionary custodial sentence', applies wherever a person is convicted of an offence punishable with a custodial sentence. Under s.230(2), 'The court must not pass a custodial sentence unless it is of the opinion that' the offence, or the offence combined with one or more associated offences, 'was so serious that neither a fine alone nor a community sentence can be justified for the offence.' The threshold does not apply where a mandatory sentence requirement applies to the offence (s.230(3)), and s.230(4) allows the court to pass a custodial sentence despite the threshold not being met if the offender fails to express willingness to comply with a requirement that the court proposes to include in a community-based disposal.
The custody threshold is the gateway test a sentencer must apply before even considering the length of a custodial term: it asks whether custody is justified at all, as a matter of seriousness, before moving on to questions of length under s.231. As checked against the current legislation.gov.uk text (revised to reflect changes in force), the core threshold wording in s.230(2) remains unchanged from the description above, though the Act has been amended around it by later legislation, including a 2026 amendment referenced in the Act's own change log.
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Official sources
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