Prison Sentences

Mr. Garnier
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the (a) shortest, (b) longest and (c) average sentence tariff handed down to offenders sentenced to indeterminate sentences for public protection was in (i) 2007 and (ii) 2008.

Mr. Hanson
In 2007 the shortest tariff handed down to a prisoner sentenced to an indeterminate sentence for public protection was 28 days. The longest tariff was 11 years and 11 days. The average tariff was two years and 348 days.

In 2008 the shortest tariff was 39 days. The longest tariff was 14 years and 235 days. The average tariff was three years and 140 days.

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 introduced changes to the sentencing framework for indeterminate sentenced for public protection. The amendments introduced a minimum tariff of two years below which an indeterminate sentence for public protection cannot be given except where offenders have committed extremely serious crimes in the past. These changes apply to cases sentenced on or after 14 July 2008.

These figures are taken from the Public Protection Unit Database within the National Offender Management Service. As with any large scale recording system, it is subject to possible errors arising from either data entry or processing.