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Young Offenders: Crimes of Violence

Volume 494: debated on Tuesday 16 June 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people aged under 18 years in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point were convicted of (i) grievous bodily harm and (ii) violent disorder in each of the last five years; and what the average length of custodial sentence was in each case. (279280)

The available information is shown in the table; the figures presented are for Essex police force area, it is not possible to separate offences that occurred in Castle Point.

Number of offenders aged under 18 sentenced and average custodial sentence length1 (ACSL) (months) for grievous bodily harm2 and violent disorder3, Essex police force area, 2003-07

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Total sentenced for grievous bodily harm

16

10

18

10

14

Total sentenced for violent disorder

0

0

2

1

0

Total immediate custodial sentences for GBH

9

6

5

5

8

Total immediate custodial sentences for violent disorder

n/a

n/a

1

0

n/a

ACSL for grievous bodily harm

12.2

16.7

20.6

12.8

18.0

ACSL for violent disorder

n/a

n/a

12.0

n/a

n/a

n/a = Not applicable

1 ACSL excludes life/indeterminate sentences

2 Offences of: Wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, causing explosion or casting corrosive fluids with intent to do grievous bodily harm, Malicious wounding—wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm, Racially aggravated malicious wounding or grievous bodily harm, Religiously aggravated wounding or grievous bodily harm, Racially or religiously aggravated wounding or grievous bodily harm.

3 Public Order Act 1986

These data are presented on the principal offence basis, where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed, where the same sentence has been imposed for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.

Notes:

1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems.

2. 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:

OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice

The total number sentenced has been provided in lieu of the number convicted, lags in time between conviction and sentencing may mean numbers convicted and sentenced in a year do not match.