To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been in relation to offences under section 22 of the Offender Management Act 2007; and what the average length of sentence was in cases of conviction. (316191)

The Prison Act 1952, as amended by the Offender Management Act 2007, defines the criminal offence and penalties for smuggling contraband such as mobile phones, drugs and weapons into prisons. The Offender Management Act 2007 strengthened the penalties for smuggling contraband, and made it a specific offence with a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment to bring a mobile phone or component part into a prison.

From April 2009, indictable and triable-either-way offences contained in the Offender Management Act have been included in the Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded Crime. Offences recorded by police will be published in next year’s annual statistical bulletin, Crime in England and Wales (July 2010).