ABSTRACT
Where the court adjourns the case so that a report can be prepared to assess the offender’s suitability for community service, the court will usually warn the offender that the court may nonetheless impose a custodial sentence. The reason for this is that, if the court does not warn the defendant in this way, and the report shows that the offender is suitable for community service, the offender will be left with a legitimate sense of grievance if the court later imposes a custodial sentence. In such a case, the custodial sentence would almost certainly be overturned on appeal (see R v Gillam (1980) 2 Cr App R(S) 267; R v Millwood (1982) 4 Cr App R(S) 281; and R v Stokes [1983] RTR 59).
