In cases of sustained and deliberate social welfare fraud, an order for imprisonment with at least some imprisonment actually to be served is ordinarily likely to be required, because mitigating factors will rarely be of sufficient significance to outweigh the primary sentencing purpose of general deterrence. Immediate release on recognizance will only be appropriate in exceptional cases. On a Crown appeal, the Court of Appeal is constrained by double jeopardy principles to impose sentences at the lower end of the available range.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 37 later cases that cite this judgment.
4 of the 37 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.