Judges in Victoria’s Supreme and County Courts no longer have the option of imposing suspended sentences after new laws took effect last month.
A suspended sentence is where an offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, but the jail term is suspended as long as the offender does not re-offend.
“This will include crimes such as culpable driving, serious theft and fraud and various drug trafficking offences,” Attorney-General, Robert Clark said.
The government expects that suspended sentences will be abolished in all courts within the next year, once the sentencing option is removed from the Magistrates' Court.
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