Commentary First Group of Parts – Discipline Part 9 – Sentencing: Principles and Procedures Section 242: Service detention: general restriction
482.Subsection (1) prohibits a court (except the SAC) from passing a sentence of service detention unless the offence is serious enough to warrant such a sentence. If the offender is also convicted of other offences in the same proceedings, or is sentenced for other offences at the same time, or other offences are taken into consideration when sentencing him, those offences are “associated” with the offence for which he is sentenced; and a sentence of service detention can be passed if the combination of the offence for which he is sentenced and the associated offences is serious enough to warrant it. Subsection (4) similarly prohibits a CO or the SAC from awarding service detention unless the offence or offences for which the offender is being sentenced is or are serious enough to warrant it. These provisions apply to service detention a principle laid down in relation to custodial sentences by section 152 of the 2003 Act.
483.Subsections (2) and (5) require a court or CO, when deciding whether an offence or combination of offences is serious enough to warrant a sentence of service detention, or how long a sentence it warrants, to take into account all available information about the circumstances of the offence or offences. These provisions apply to service detention a principle laid down in relation to custodial sentences by section 156(1) of the 2003 Act.