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Section 280: Extended sentence of imprisonment: availability

Sentencing Act 2020 · 2020 c. 17View on legislation.gov.uk

Part 10: Custodial sentences — CHAPTER 4: Adults aged 21 and over

An extended sentence of imprisonment is available in respect of an offence where—

the offence is a specified offence (see section 306(1)),
the offender is aged 21 or over when convicted of the offence,
the court is of the opinion that there is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm occasioned by the commission by the offender of further specified offences (see section 308),
the court is not required by section 283 , 285 or 285A to impose a sentence of imprisonment for life,
the court is not required by section 282B to impose a serious terrorism sentence for the offence or for an offence associated with it, and
the earlier offence condition or the 4 year term condition is met.

The pre-sentence report requirements (see section 30) apply to the court in relation to forming the opinion mentioned in subsection (1)(c).

The earlier offence condition is that, when the offence was committed, the offender had been convicted of an offence listed in Part 1, 2 or 3 of Schedule 14.

But if the proceedings for the offence were instituted before IP completion day (see section 397(5)), the earlier offence condition is that, when the offence was committed, the offender had been convicted of an offence listed in Part 1, 2, 3 or 3A of Schedule 14.

The 4 year term condition is that, if the court were to impose an extended sentence of imprisonment, the term that it would specify as the appropriate custodial term (see section 281) would be at least 4 years.

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This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.