British Judges have been told to consider handing out more lenient sentences for convicted offenders from “deprived” or “difficult” backgrounds. The Sentencing Council, the official body charged with setting guidelines for judges and magistrates, has identified “mitigating” factors for the first time. These factors relate to various disadvantages that courts should take into account before passing sentences. The new guidelines on “difficult and/or deprived background or personal circumstance” include poverty, low educational attainment, discrimination and insecure accommodation. The council’s guidelines came into effect on Monday, despite warnings from Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, who argued the guidance was “patronising” and “inaccurate”. He added that it risked making poor schooling and poverty excuses for criminals to break the law. Concerns were also raised during the consultation phase that the new sentencing guidelines could mean better-off, middle class offenders from secure households are “unfairly disadvantaged” by being slapped with harsher penalties for the same offence. It was also noted that many people from deprived backgrounds do not become offenders. The Blue Collar Conservatives, a group …