asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people were serving life sentences in Northern Ireland prisons in January of each of the past 10 years. [HL2757]
The total number of people serving life sentences in Northern Ireland prisons in January in each of the past 10 years is given in the following table.
Year Number of life sentence prisoners 1999 150 2000 127 2001 87 2002 90 2003 105 2004 117 2005 126 2006 136 2007 147 2008 165
1 The population figures are taken on the last Thursday of January in each of the past 10 years.