Violent Offence Prevention Order (VOPO)

The court can give an offender a VOPO to protect the public/a victim if there is a risk the offender could case serious violent harm

  • A court can make a VOPO against someone:

    • convicted of a specified offence

    • found not guilty of a specified offence by reason of insanity

    • found to be unfit to be tried and to have committed the specified offence as charged

    A VOPO can also be given for:

    • offences and crimes committed before1 December 2016

    • offences and crimes committed abroad

    Specified offences include:

  • When someone is given a VOPO, the police need to know their whereabouts. They must give the police their personal information including: 

    • name

    • date of birth

    • national insurance number

    • home address and any other addresses where they live

    • all intended travel within the United Kingdom

    • all intended travel outside the United Kingdom, or intended travel to the Republic of Ireland (when travelling for three days or more)

    • when living or staying for at least 12 hours in a household or other private place where a child lives or stays

    • bank accounts, credit and debit cards held, whether alone or with another person and whether in the name of an unincorporated business

    • passport or other forms of identification held

  • Depending on the offender's case, the court can make certain conditions with the order.

    The conditions can limit or ban the offender from:

    • doing certain activities

    • going to some places

    • seeing certain people 

    The offender might need to do a rehabilitation programme.

    It's a criminal offence to break a condition of a Violent Offences Prevention Order. Charges include a fine, five years imprisonment, or both. You could get a fine, imprisoned for up to five years or both penalties.

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