The Government’s reinstated Three Strikes sentencing regime came into effect on 17 June 2025.
The reinstated three-strikes law is intended to deter repeat offenders with the threat of progressively longer mandatory terms of imprisonment.
In general, offenders who are convicted of a serious violent or sexual offence committed on or after 17 June 2025 will be warned of the consequences of re-offending at their first strike and will not be eligible for parole at their second strike. For a third strike, offenders will have to serve the maximum penalty without parole.
Offenders will be subject to the regime if they commit a qualifying offence and receive a sentence above the qualifying sentence threshold at each stage. The regime:
As a part of the reinstatement of the law, some warnings that were given under the former three strikes law between 1 June 2010 and 16 August 2022 can be reactivated.
If individuals want to find out if they have any reactivated warnings(external link), they can write to their local court(external link) and ask to receive a copy of their Criminal and Traffic History Report. A judge will then decide about giving them a copy of the report.
This information cannot be obtained by applying for a criminal record check.
If an individual is currently appearing before the court, they should talk to their lawyer, and they can find out if they have any reactivated warnings.