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Mrs Renée Short
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give a breakdown of the category of offences for which present women prisoners are serving sentences in percentage terms.
Mr. Mellor
The latest readily available information is given in the following table. More detailed information relating to 30 June is published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales"—table 1.5 of the latest issue for 1983 (Cmnd. 9363).
| Population* of females under sentence† on 31 March 1985 by offence group | |||
| *Percentages | |||
| Offence group | Young offenders | Adult prisoners | Total |
| Violence against the person | 16 | 15 | 15 |
| Sexual offences | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Burglary | 13 | 6 | 7 |
| Robbery | 12 | 3 | 5 |
| Year | Total | Lengths of sentences |
| 1970 | 2 | Life, 4 years. |
| 1971 | 8 | 7½ years, 5 years × 2, 4 years, 3 years × 2, 12 months, 9 months. |
| 1972 | 10 | Life × 2, 8 years, 4 years × 2, 18 months × 3, 15 months, 9 months. |
| 1973 | 8 | 14 years, 6 years, 5 years, 4½ years, 3 years, 2 years × 2, 9 months |
| 1974 | 2 | 6 years × 2. |
| 1975 | 6 | Life, 5 years, 4 years × 2, 6 months, 21 days*. |
| 1976 | 9 | Life, 10 years, 5 years, 4 years, 3 years, 2 years 9 months, 18 months, 12 months, 9 months. |
| 1977 | 7 | Life, 12 years, 7 years, 4 years, 2 years, 18 months, 1 month. |
| 1978 | 7 | Life × 4, 5 years*, 18 months, 12 months. |
| 1979 | 12 | Life × 3, 5 years, 4 years, 3 years × 2, 18 months, 12 months, 9 months, 6 months × 2. |
| 1980 | 9 | Life × 3, 12 years × 2, 5 years, 4 years, 21 months, 19 months. |
| 1981 | 7 | Life × 2, 8 years × 2, 3 years × 2, 12 months. |
| 1982 | 8 | Life × 5, 15 years, 3 years, 18 months. |
| 1983 | 11 | Life, 4 years × 2, 3¼ years, 3 years × 2, 2 years × 2, 9 months, 6 months, 3 months. |
| 1984 | 10 | Life × 3, 25 years, 7 years, 5 years, 4 years, 3½ years, 2 years, 18 months. |
| * Females. | ||