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widening of the cohort of those exposed to a custodial sentence (net widening) and a
tendency to increase the penalty on the assumption that it may never be served (inflation).
Underpinning all of this is what might be described as the “leitmotiv” of deterrent
sentencing. There is an uncritical assumption that offenders approach the costs and
benefits of compliance with a suspended sentence in much the same way as sentencers
themselves approach decisions in their everyday lives. But, the literature discloses,
offenders on suspended sentences frequently breach their bonds and do not have their
sentences activated. What is remarkable is the tendency of sentencers, whether operating
under statutory regimes, or when left to their own devices as in Ireland, to converge
towards similar patterns of usage of the suspended sentence. In a large number of cases,
lesser sanctions such as the fine are abandoned in favour of more severe penalties.
Conditional discharges, whether with or without probation supervision, are similarly
discountedin favour of the suspended sentence.
It is hypothesised that the disinclination of Irish sentencers to use the above mentioned
dispositions is in part founded upon a lack of trust that cases will be dealt with by the
relevant agencies either the Probation Service or the Prosecution with sufficient attention
so as to make the particular disposition worthwhile and effective. The suspended
sentence in this context presents as a penalty to fill the gap between a custodial and a
communitybased sanction.
The persistence by sentencers both in Ireland and elsewhere to invest the suspended
sentence with the purpose of deterrence, the efficacyof which appears to be demonstrably
absent, speaks more of the judges’ sense of hope that the offender will remain true to
his/her bond or contract entered into than anything else. If the offender is to remain
compliant, crime may decrease and society in general may benefit. However it is difficult
to reconcile the high status afforded to the suspended sentence when it is claimed to be an
alternative to a custodial sentence with the perceptions by offenders and indeed by the
general public, as is evident from the research and from one respondent in this study, that
the suspended sentence amounts to a “let off”.
In contrast with the English experience of the controlled use of the suspended sentence,
Irish sentencers have fashioned the use of the suspended sentence “in a mood of gay
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