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Armed Forces Bill

I have tabled Amendment No. 156 in this group. It suggests that a civilian court must take into account all the effects of a sentence on a service person’s career. The Minister will point out that the court will or should do so in any case but the problem is that the service person himself might not fully appreciate all the consequences of a civilian sentence and therefore those consequences would not be raised in mitigation either by himself or by his solicitor. For instance, in many service trades a driving licence is essential. No licence equals no trade; no trade equals no promotion; having no promotion could possibly mean that his service might have to be terminated under regulations. That, in turn, could affect pension rights. I do not know whether the Minister can offer me any help on this point, but I am not convinced that the civilian courts always fully understand the consequences of their sentences for civilian offences.