This guidance is designed to assist Judges, Magistrates and their legal advisers in determining the appropriate sentence for a heritage crime. It is hoped it will also assist the parties to any prosecution by providing a summary of the relevant provisions.

The guidance sets out specific heritage crime offences that apply to designated heritage assets, those specific heritage crime offences that apply to both designated and non-designated heritage assets and other criminal offences that can affect heritage assets as they do ordinary buildings and sites which do not have a heritage interest. Section 3 sets out the matters to be taken into consideration when sentencing for heritage crime.