How much to parole boards take on what the judge said in his summing up speech?

[screamingj]

I know of a case where the judge said in summing up, 'bearing in mind the gravity of the case, I am going to put a note on file that I recommended the defendent serve the whole sentence'. Will a parole board pay much attention to this? It was a historic crime so the (large modern) sentence had to be converted back to that (small) applicable at the time of the crime.

Please provide a link to the case you're referring to.

I don't have a link

The board may have access to the comments, if they were made, but it's up to them to make an assessment as to whether the person can be managed safely in the community.

Bloody stupid to say that for various reasons. There are very good reasons people serve only a portion of their sentence in prison.

Of course an offender has to serve the whole sentence.

Are you confusing serving a sentence per se, with serving it in custody?
It is usual and appropriate from a rehabilitation perspective and the safety of the public in future for time to be spent supervised within the community.

The Parole Board will assess the offenders case on the basis of the risk to the public.

@Walkingtheplank no they don't. The sentence is 13yrs but the first parole meeting is set at 6yrs. If released at 6yrs they'll have served just under half.

If sentenced to 13 years, the offender will serve 13 years, but some of it will be served under licence in the community; this is still part of the sentence.

@Walkingtheplank So if it was originally 13yrs + 1yr in the community, after parole it might be 6yrs in prision & 8yrs in the community. Is this what you're saying?

Without seeing the sentencing, its impossible to tell exactly.
It wont be an exact 6 yrs plus 8 yrs. I assume that he/she is eligible for Parole from 6 yrs, but he/she still has to be granted release, which is not guaranteed. If not considered safe to be released, he/she won't be.

Is there a way to look up the sentencing?

If you have a date and name of defendant etc you can access the case via westlaw if the case was of particular significance.