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<p>There are no current plans to commence Section 151 of the Criminal Justice Act
2003, which allows courts, in certain circumstances, to use community orders for repeat
offenders who would normally receive fines.</p><p>Section 143(2) of that Act requires
courts to treat previous convictions as an aggravating factor when sentencing. The
Sentencing Council’s guideline on theft offences came into force in 2016. This guideline
allows for the imposition of community sentences for shop theft in a wide range of
circumstances. In cases involving significant persistent offending, the community
and custodial thresholds may be crossed even though the offence otherwise warrants
a lesser sentence.</p>
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