asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder or manslaughter in the 12 months ended 1st January 1958 and in each succeeding 12-month period to the latest convenient date.
The information is set out in the table below which shows, for England and Wales, the number of persons convicted of murder or manslaughter and sentenced to life imprisonment since 1st January 1957 including those ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure or for life under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, and those sentenced to death whose sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. The figures do not include cases where a sentence of life imprisonment was not unheld on appeal.
| Year | Murder | Manslaughter (diminished responsibility) | Other Manslaughter |
| 1957 | 25 | 3 | — |
| 1958 | 22 | 11 | — |
| 1959 | 39 | 7 | — |
| 1960 | 36 | 11 | — |
| 1961 | 45 | 12 | — |
| 1962 | 28 | 9 | — |
| 1963 | 42 | 14 | — |
| 1964 | 41 | 11 | — |
| 1965 | 57 | 10 | 3 |
| 1966 | 69 | 7 | — |
| 1967 | 56 | 9 | 3 |
| 1968 | 71 | 3 | — |
| 1969 | 73 | 6 | 2 |
| 1970 | 97 | 12 | 1 |
| 1971 | 97 | 13 | 1 |
| 1972 | 79 | 6 | 3 |
| 1973 | 88 | 12 | 2 |
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were under sentence of life imprisonment for murder or manslaughter on 1st January 1957; how many of them were in prison and had served five years, 10 years, 15 years or 20 years, respectively; how many of them were on licence and, of the latter, how many had served five years, 10 years, 15 years or 20 years in prison respectively; and if he will give similar figures for every succeeding 12-month period to the latest convenient date.
I regret that information in this form is not available. I shall write to the hon. and learned Member sending such information as can be provided.