Richards v National Probation Service [2007] All ER (D) 454 (Nov)
The offender was subject to a suspended sentence order (under CJA 2003, s 189) which imposed an obligation to undertake unpaid work. The conditions included a requirement to provide documentary evidence explaining any failure to perform unpaid work.
HELD In the context of community punishments, a responsible officer is entitled to set conditions that require the offender to inform the officer in advance if he knows he cannot keep an appointment to do unpaid work. This falls within the words “keep in touch” in CJA 2003, s 220(1)(a).
The officer may require that information to be in writing and to be supported by evidence from a third party. It is permissible for the conditions to provide that the officer may relax that requirement in the circumstances of a given case, so that the information is to be provided within a short period thereafter.
However, s 220 cannot be read as enabling the responsible officer to request the information ex post facto unless the request is to provide the information in advance and a concession is then made
