Burglars will face tougher sentences with the impact on their victims at the heart of the process under proposals published today by the Sentencing Council.

The draft guidelines, which cover the offences of domestic burglary, non-domestic burglary and aggravated burglary, introduce a single framework for Crown and magistrates’ courts to increase consistency of sentencing.

The guidance says that the victim should be the primary concern in the sentencing process, asking judges to focus on the harm to the victim as well as the culpability of the offender.

For example, if a victim is at home when a burglary takes place, or if significant trauma is experienced by the victim, judges are directed towards a more severe sentence.

Under the guidelines, those who commit domestic burglaries can still expect a custodial sentence, but community orders may be appropriate for the lowest level of offenders.

The statutory maximum sentences for burglary offences remain unchanged.

The guidance reinforces the particularly serious nature of aggravated burglary, and proposes that custodial sentences should always be given, with a range of up to 13 years.

The guidance increases the recommended sentence for domestic burglary from four to six years, but the sentences for non-domestic burglaries remain in line with those currently being given, with a range of up to four years.

The chairman of the Sentencing Council Lord Justice Leveson said: ‘Burglary can have a very serious impact on victims – it is very far from being only a crime against property.

'As a result, we have ensured that the impact on victims is at the centre of considerations about what sentence should be passed on a burglar.’

He said: ‘The guideline does not reduce the severity of sentences being given to those convicted of burglary. Rather, it reinforces current sentencing practice that burglars targeting people’s homes can expect a custodial sentence.’

The three-month consultation closes on 4 August 2011.

The consultation document can be read on the Sentencing Council site.