The length of a rehabilitation period depends on the sentence given, rather than the actual offence that was committed. For a custodial sentence, the rehabilitation period is determined by the original sentence, as opposed to the time served. Custodial sentences of more than two-and-a-half years can never become spent.
The following sentences become spent after fixed periods from the date of conviction:
Sentence |
Rehabilitation Period |
| People aged 17 or under when convicted |
People aged 18 or over when convicted |
| Prison sentences1 of 6 months or less |
3 ½ years |
7 years |
| Prison sentences of more than 6 months to 2 ½ years |
5 years |
10 years |
| Borstal (abolished in 1983) |
7 years
|
7 years
|
| Detention centres (abolished in 1988) |
3 years |
3 years |
| Fines2, compensation, probation3, community service4, combination5, action plan, drug treatment and testing, and reparation orders |
2 ½ years |
5 years |
| Absolute discharge |
6 months |
6 months |
Table Footnotes:
1 Including suspended sentences youth custody (abolished 1988) and detention in a young offender institution (abolished for those under 18 in 2000 and for those aged 19-20 in 2001)
2 Even if subsequently imprisoned for fine default
3 People convicted on or after 3 February 1995. These orders are now called community rehabilitation orders
4 These orders are now called community punishment orders
5 These orders are now called community punishment and rehabilitation orders |
