Punishment for crimes committed has been the focus of extensive public debate for many years with individuals seeing different goals with the public preferring a more punitive goal of punishment and deterrence from crime (Hough, Roberts, Jacobson, Moon and Steel, 2009). From this and through research carried out by Lord Ashcroft (2011), it can be deduced that public opinion is in favor of a prison sentence rather than a rehabilitative provision. In developing sentencing guidelines, consultation is undertaken with criminal justice professionals and the general public over a period of 12 weeks before final sentencing guidelines are produced and implemented. This essay will continue by examining the sentence handed down for two case studies and will connect with the philosophies of punishment, the aggravating and mitigating factors in each case and the proportionality of the sentence given. The philosophy of punishment can be defined in five chapters. Deterrence related to the individual's fear of being arrested or punished; inability; reform, which is the idea that punishment can help the offender to desist from crime in the future, which can also be linked to the rehabilitation and reintegration of the individual, and finally denunciation, which is linked to the detestation of the crime by the public. (Cavadino and Dignan, 2007). Both case studies that will be discussed in this article refer to crimes of aggression. Moving forward, it is important to identify what is meant by assault. Although there is no official definition of assault within British law, it can be defined in the Cambridge Dictionary as "a threat to harm someone followed by a violent attack on them". Expanding on this topic, the threat can… middle of paper… I in Maguire, M, Morgan, R and Reiner, R (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 5th edition, Oxford: Oxford University PressHough, M ., Roberts, J., Jacobson, J., Moon, N., & Steel, N. (2009). Public attitudes towards sentencing principles (Research Report 6). London: Sentencing Advisory Panel.Prison Reform Trust, (2013). Why focus on reducing female incarceration? Retrieved from: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/ Why%20focus%20on%20women%20in%20prison%20-%20Oct%202013.pdf?dm_i=47L,1X4PH,7MIJ3Q, 6W4KY, 1Womeninprison.org, (2013). Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.womeninprison.org.uk/statistics.phpYork Press, (2014, January 5). Man attacks police officer after urinating on pub carpets. York Press. Retrieved from http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/10915071.Man_assaults_police_officer_after_urinating_on_pub_carpets/