criminal-law united-kingdom
What would be Julian Assange&#39;s expected punishment, on the current English criminal law?
<p>Currently, the only charges form the British side against him are, that he avoided the criminal procedure (he was, on the British law, a fugitive) by his "visit" on the Ecuadorian Embassy.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, the British police has spent £11million.</p>

<p>Now consider the case if he wouldn't be extradited to the U.S on some reason, and any other "extra-judicial measurement" (for example, "committing suicide"  in his cell) wouldn't happen.</p>

<p>What is the punishment for that in English law?</p>

<p><sub>Update: <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/julian-assange-prison-jail-time-weeks-bail-embassy-a8894326.html?amp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">he got 50 weeks</a>, what nears the 1 year maximum. There is no news from financial punishment or extradition.</sub></p>

<p>Up to 12 months in jail. Just by coincidence, only this week some guy who was given a jail sentence of several years for manslaughter, then jumped bail and left the country, and was extradited back to the UK, was given six months jail for jumping bail.</p>

<p>The punishment is for jumping bail, which is an offence independent of whether the original charges are true or false. So the cases are somehow comparable, except Assange jumped bail for seven years, which would be worse, and Assange didn't leave the country but entered a foreign embassy, which I have no idea how that compares to leaving the country.</p>

<h2>12 months in jail and a £5000 fine (probably).</h2>
<p>Julian Assange has been convicted of breaching the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/63" rel="noreferrer">Bail Act 1976</a>, specifically <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/63/section/6" rel="noreferrer">Section 6</a>; to whit, <strong>Offence of absconding by person released on bail.</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>If a person who—<br />
(a)has been released on bail in criminal proceedings, and<br />
<strong>(b)having reasonable cause therefor, has failed to surrender to custody,fails to surrender to custody at the appointed place as soon after the appointed time as is reasonably practicable he shall be guilty of an offence.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The punishment for this offence is</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;<em><strong>a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine [up to £5000] or to both.</strong></em>&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Under the circumstances and given the extreme nature of his contempt of court proceedings (hiding for years <em>and</em> making snarky remarks in the press) it seems likely that he will receive the full sentence as well as a £5000 fine on May 2nd.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Judge finds Assange guilty of breaking bail conditions, orders him to
appear in court on May 2</strong></p>
<p><em>Back inside the courtroom, one of Assange's lawyers argued that he did
not surrender for bail back in 2012 because he would never have
received a fair trial and was thus forced to seek asylum in the
Ecuadorean embassy.</em></p>
<p><em>The judge appeared to dispute this and called the Australian WikiLeaks
founder a “narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest.”</em></p>
<p><em>The judge found Assange guilty of breaking his bail conditions and
ordered him to appear on May 2 for an extradition hearing. Until then,
he said Assange would remain in custody.</em></p>
<p><em>The hearing has now ended.</em></p>
<p><Sub><sup><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/uk/live-news/julian-assange-arrest-dle-gbr-intl/h_82d40eced33d2ec3c329546417e5b062" rel="noreferrer">Judge finds Assange guilty of breaking bail conditions, orders him to appear in court on May 2</a></Sub></sup></p>
</blockquote>
<p>He will probably serve a term of at least 3 months in jail (the judge will likely not take his time in the Ecuadorian Embassy into consideration, but he did spend some time on remand and bail before he absconded and while awaiting sentencing) after which he will likely face extradition to either Sweden or the US or deportation to his home country of Australia.</p>

<p>He will likely be charged with <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/63/section/6" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Failure to Surrender to Bail</a></p>

<p>It is an either-way offence, meaning it can be tried either on summary trial, in the magistrates court (with a maximum punishment of 3 months imprisonment), or on indictment in crown court, which carries a maximum punishment of 12 months imprisonment.</p>

<p>It is likely that in his plea before venue, the magistrates court would deny jurisdiction, and so force the case to be heard in the crown court.</p>

<p>In my opinion, Assange ought to plead guilty at first instance, so he can be awarded the maximum credit for a guilty plea of 1/3 off his sentence. (This credit must be given to Assange)</p>

<p>The court will look at the <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/web_Fail_to_Surrender_to_Bail.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">[Sentencing Guidelines]<a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/web_Fail_to_Surrender_to_Bail.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2</a></a>. Due to the culpability and extent of his offence, he will probably face the maximum sentence of 12 months.</p>

<p>12 months taking away 4 months for guilty plea, means a sentence of 8 months. A person only serves 1/2 of his sentence (yes, <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/about-sentencing/types-of-sentence/determinate-prison-sentences/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this is a rule</a>), so he will only spend 4 months of that sentence incarcerated, the rest of it will be on license (in America, this will be called on parole).</p>

<p>For more in depth information, along with commentary, A lawyer should consult Blackstone's Criminal Practice.</p>
