Breach of bail

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This report is part of the Sentencing Spotlight series. These publications present statistics on sentencing outcomes for offences finalised in Queensland courts. Our Sentencing Spotlight on breach of bail offences, defined under sections 29 and 33 of the Bail Act 1980, provides insight into cases sentenced between July 2005 and June 2016.

Our research found:

• a total of 107,779 offenders were sentenced
• of these, 63,769 offenders had breach of bail as their most serious offence (MSO)
• of all offenders, 44,010 had another offence as their MSO but included breach of bail offence
• children made up 1.7% of total offenders
• the number of offenders sentenced for breach of bail as their MSO increased each year from 2008–09
• the average age of offenders was 30 years
• the majority of offenders were male (79.5%)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders made up 26.1% of total offenders
• the majority pleaded guilty (95.5%)
• the majority received a non-custodial penalty (84.4%), with most adults (73.1%) receiving a fine and most children (51.9%) receiving a reprimand.

Read the media release