Hansard

Rape: Sentencing

Volume 471: debated on Thursday 31 January 2008

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Nick Herbert

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of those convicted of rape in each of the last three years received (a) a determinate prison sentence, (b) a life sentence, (c) an indeterminate sentence for public protection and (d) any other disposal; and what was the average determinate sentence length and average tariff for life and indeterminate sentences. (182298)

Mr. Straw

I regret that not all the requested information is available. The available information is contained in the table. In particular, due to the nature of our current administrate systems it is not possible to calculate the average custodial sentence length for life and indeterminate sentences. In the light of the hon. Member’s question I have asked for further work to be done on sentencing estimates of indeterminate and life sentences.

Figures for 2007 will be available from autumn 2008.

Number of persons sentenced1 for rape2, method of disposal and average sentence length3, all courts, England and Wales, 2004-06

Defendants

Offence

Year

Absolute discharge

Conditional discharge

Fine

Community sentence

Fully suspended sentence

Immediate custody

Average sentence length3

Life sentences4

Otherwise dealt with

Rape2

2004

2

2

—

16

—

713

85.1

62

9

2005

—

1

1

32

2

746

81.8

74

12

2006

1

1

—

40

—

803

81.2

202

17

1 Principal offence basis.

2 Includes rape of a male and a female.

3 Months. Excludes life and indeterminate sentences.

4 Includes Indeterminate sentences for Public Protection (IPPs).

Note:

These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.

Source:

RDS-NOMS, Ministry of Justice 28 January 2008. Ref: PQ(RN)029-08