united-kingdom criminal-law england-and-wales common-law sentencing
Defendant not present for sentencing
<p>If the defendant does not turn up to court for sentencing, can the defence still put forward mitigations and character references?</p>
<p>One would assume that the defence would be prevented from bringing certain positive elements up in retaliation for the defendant fleeing.</p>
<p>Jurisdiction: England &amp; Wales.</p>
<p>Edit - I am talking about the defendant fleeing the country.</p>

<p>The defense isn’t prevented from presenting any arguments, but some arguments might be less convincing.</p>
<p>“My client is really sorry and will do everything he can to fix the damage and he has learnt his lesson”. “Your client just skipped bail, didn’t he?”</p>
<p>“My client is so sorry for this drunken attack and has since given up drinking alcohol”. “Why is Your client not here?” “He has a hangover”.</p>
