Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will consider reviewing sentencing guidelines to increase the severity of the punishment for repeat offenders of graffiti.

The maximum sentences available for criminal offences are set by Parliament and the maximum penalty for the offence of criminal damage is ten years’ imprisonment.

The independent judiciary will determine the appropriate sentence in individual cases within the maximums set by Parliament, and in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

In October 2019, the Council issued guidelines on criminal damage, which provides sentencers with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is. This is available at: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/crown-court/item/criminal-damage-other-than-by-fire-value-exceeding-5000-racially-or-religiously-aggravated-criminal-damage/.

Whilst the Government has no current plans to ask the Council to consider reviewing the criminal damage guidelines, it is open to individuals to approach the Council to ask that they do so.