The average age of persons found guilty at all courts in England and Wales, by selected offence type, from 1997 to 2007 (latest available) is given in the following table.
Data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
Offence type 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Violence against the person 26 27 27 27 26 27 27 27 27 27 27 Sexual offences 37 38 38 37 37 37 37 36 37 36 37 Burglary 22 23 23 23 23 24 24 24 24 24 24 Robbery 21 21 22 21 21 22 22 22 21 21 20 Drug offences 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 28 28 28 28 1 The statistics relate to the average age of persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.