Breach of Community Order (Schedule 10 Sentencing Act 2020)

Sentencing Act 2020, Sch. 10

Either way
Fine not exceeding £2,500, more onerous requirements, committal to prison for up to 28 days (orders qualifying for special procedures) or re-sentence for the original offence (Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 10, paras 10(5) and 11(2))

Definition

In this Schedule, in relation to a community order, any reference (however expressed) to breach of a requirement of the order is a reference to any failure of the offender to comply with a requirement imposed by the order. (Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 10, para 1(2)) This paragraph applies where (a) a community order subject to magistrates' court supervision is in force, and (b) it appears on information to a justice of the peace that the offender has breached a requirement of the order. The justice may (a) issue a summons requiring the offender to appear at the place and time specified in it, or (b) if the information is in writing and on oath, issue a warrant for the offender's arrest. (Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 10, para 8(1) and (2)) This paragraph applies where (a) a Crown Court community order is in force, and (b) it appears on information to the Crown Court that the offender has breached a requirement of the order. The Crown Court may (a) issue a summons requiring the offender to appear at the place and time specified in it, or (b) if the information is in writing and on oath, issue a warrant for the offender's arrest. (Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 10, para 9(1) and (2))

Points to prove

A community order is in force
the offender has failed to comply with a requirement imposed by the order (para 1(2))
without reasonable excuse (paras 10(1)(b) and 11(1)(b))
proved to the satisfaction of the court before which the offender appears or is brought (paras 10(1) and 11(1))

Breach of a community order is not an offence but a breach proceeding under Schedule 10 to the Sentencing Act 2020. Breach of a requirement of the order means any failure of the offender to comply with a requirement imposed by the order (Sch. 10, para 1(2)). Where the responsible officer is of the opinion that the offender has without reasonable excuse breached a requirement, the officer must give a warning or refer the matter to an enforcement officer, and must refer it where a warning has been given within the previous 12 months (para 6). The enforcement officer may cause an information to be laid before a justice of the peace, for an order subject to magistrates' court supervision, or before the Crown Court, for a Crown Court community order (para 7), on which a summons or, if the information is in writing and on oath, a warrant for the offender's arrest may be issued (paras 8 and 9). The proceeding may therefore come before a magistrates' court or the Crown Court depending on which court made the order and whether it included a direction for magistrates' court supervision (paras 3, 8 and 9); there is no mode of trial as such. Where it is proved to the satisfaction of the court that the offender has breached a requirement without reasonable excuse, the court must deal with the offender in one of the following ways: a fine not exceeding £2,500; amending the order to impose more onerous requirements; where the order qualifies for special procedures, committal to prison for a period not exceeding 28 days, with no more than three such orders in relation to the same community order; or re-sentencing the offender for the offence in respect of which the order was made, which a magistrates' court may only do where the order was made by a magistrates' court (paras 10(5), 11(2) and 13A(3)). A magistrates' court dealing with a Crown Court order may instead commit the offender in custody or on bail to the Crown Court (para 10(3)). The court must take into account the extent to which the offender has complied with the order (paras 10(7) and 11(4)), must revoke the order if it re-sentences (paras 10(10) and 11(7)), and on wilful and persistent breach may impose a custodial sentence on re-sentencing even if the custody threshold in s.230(2) is not met (paras 10(9) and 11(6)).

In practice

Breach of a community order is not a separate criminal offence but a breach proceeding under Schedule 10 to the Sentencing Act 2020. The suspect must be cautioned in accordance with Code C PACE 1984 before any questions about the breach are put to them.

Last updated 20 October 2026. Reviewed 20 October 2026

Mode of trial: Either way
Maximum sentence: Fine not exceeding £2,500, more onerous requirements, committal to prison for up to 28 days (orders qualifying for special procedures) or re-sentence for the original offence (Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 10, paras 10(5) and 11(2))
Act and section: Sentencing Act 2020, Sch. 10
Power of arrest: Where it appears on information to a justice of the peace (order subject to magistrates' court supervision) or to the Crown Court (Crown Court community order) that the offender has breached a requirement of the order, a summons may be issued or, if the information is in writing and on oath, a warrant for the offender's arrest; where the offender does not appear in answer to a summons the court may issue a warrant for the offender's arrest (Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 10, paras 8(2) and (4) and 9(2) and (4)). Breach of a community order is a failure to comply with a requirement of the order, not an offence (Schedule 10, para 1(2)); the power of arrest without warrant in PACE s.24 is a power to arrest for an offence and is not engaged by the breach itself (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.24(1) to (3)).
Search on arrest: A constable may search an arrested person, where the person has been arrested at a place other than a police station, if the constable has reasonable grounds for believing that the arrested person may present a danger to himself or others, and may search the person for anything which might be used to assist an escape from lawful custody or which might be evidence relating to an offence (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, s.32(1) and (2)(a)). The powers to enter and search premises under s.32(2)(b) and s.18(1) are confined to arrest for an indictable offence, and the PACE s.1 stop and search power attaches only to the articles and offences listed in s.1(2) and (7) to (8B); breach of a community order is a failure to comply with a requirement of the order, not an offence (Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 10, para 1(2); Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, ss.1, 18(1) and 32(2)(b)).
Detention clock: A warrant issued for breach must direct the offender to be brought before the court specified in Schedule 10 (a magistrates' court acting in the local justice area where the offender resides, the court responsible for an order with a drug rehabilitation requirement subject to review, the court that made an order qualifying for special procedures, or the Crown Court for a Crown Court community order) (Sentencing Act 2020, Schedule 10, paras 8(3) and 9(3)); a magistrates' court dealing with a Crown Court order may commit the offender to custody or release the offender on bail until the offender can be brought before the Crown Court (para 10(3)), and on adjourning a hearing may remand the offender (para 26(2)). The limits in PACE ss.41 to 44 on police detention without charge (24 hours from the relevant time, extendable only where an offence for which the person is under arrest is an indictable offence) are framed around an offence for which the person has been arrested (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, ss.41(1), 42(1)(b) and 43(4)(b)); breach of a community order is a failure to comply with a requirement of the order, not an offence (Schedule 10, para 1(2)).
Source: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/17/schedule/10