... the sentence to the Crown Court at the end of the case having heard the defendants past record, they feel that their powers of punishment are insufficent. Lay magistrates have a fairly wide discretion as to the sentence they select in each case although they are subject to certain restrictions. Magistrates can only impose a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment for one offence, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 allows this to be increased to twelve months, and a maximum fine of £5000. In theory lay magistrates are volunteers, who sit as a bench of two or three in the magistrates court overseeing either summary or triable either way offences, the size of the pannel has been limited to a maximim of three, whereas before in 1996 there could be up to seven magistrates sitting together to hear a case. Unlike other members of the judiciary, their role and functions ...

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