Indictable Offence Sentences: Analysis

asked Her Majesty's Government:What proportion of (a) all offenders, (b) adult male offenders, (c) adult female offenders, and (d) male offenders of all ages sentenced for indictable offences were sentenced to custody at all courts, Crown Courts and magistrates' courts

Table A: Average sentence length and proportion of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for indictable offences¹by sex and court, England and Wales, 1992 to 1997
Category of offender	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	As a whole	First quarter	1997²Second quarter	Third quarter	Fourth quarter
Average sentence length³(months)
	Magistrates' courts
Males aged 21 or over	2.7	3.2	3.1	2.8	2.7	2.6	2.8	2.6	2.6	2.6
Females aged 21 or over	2.2	2.6	2.5	2.4	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.3	2.1
	The Crown Court
Males aged 21 or over	21.1	21.8	21.6	22.0	23.6	24.2	24.2	23.9	24.3	24.4
Females aged 21 or over	17.7	17.7	18.5	17.7	20.0	19.6	19.9	20.5	17.1	20.8
Proportion sentenced to custody (percentages)
	All courts
All offenders of which	15	15	17	20	22	22	22	22	22	23
All males	16	17	18	22	23	24	24	24	24	25
Males aged 21 or over	18	18	20	24	25	26	26	26	26	27
Females aged 21 or over	6	7	8	10	12	13	12	13	14	14
	Magistrates' courts
All offenders of which	5	6	7	9	10	10	10	10	11	11
All males	5	6	8	9	10	11	10	11	11	12
Males aged 21 or over	5	6	7	9	11	12	11	12	12	13
Females aged 21 or over	2	3	4	5	6	8	6	8	9	9

respectively in each year from 1992 to 1997 and each quarter of 1997 and 1998; and [HL3094]

What was the average sentence length passed on (a) adult males and (b) adult females by the Crown Courts and magistrates' courts respectively in each year from 1992 to 1997. [HL3095]

Available information for England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland is given in the tables.

Table A: Average sentence length and proportion of offenders sentenced to immediate custody for indictable offences ¹ by sex and court, England and Wales, 1992 to 1997
Category of offender	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	As a whole	First quarter	1997 ² Second quarter	Third quarter	Fourth quarter
	The Crown Court
All offenders of which	44	49	52	56	60	60	61	60	59	60
All males	46	51	54	58	63	62	63	63	62	62
Males aged 21 or over	47	51	54	58	63	63	64	63	63	63
Females aged 21 or over	24	28	30	32	36	36	37	37	36	34
¹ The data are based on the sentences given for the principal offence.
² Estimated.
³ Excludes life sentences.

Table B1: Average determinate sentence ¹ (months) given to adult ² males and females convicted of any offence and given immediate custody by type of court, Northern Ireland, 1992 to 1997
Type of court/Category of offender	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Magistrates' courts
Adult males	5	5	5	5	5	5
Adult females	4	5	4	4	3	4
Crown Court
Adult males	45	58	45	48	31	34
Adult females	52	39	42	29	11	17
¹ Figures exclude life and SOSP prisoners.
² Adults are defined as those aged 17 years plus (inclusive).

Table B2: Proportion of all offenders, adult ¹ male offenders, adult ¹ female offenders and all male offenders sentenced to custody for indictable offences by type of court, Northern Ireland, 1992 to 1997
Percentages
Type of court/Category of offender	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997
Magistrates' courts
All offenders	15	16	15	15	15	15
All male offenders	16	18	16	17	16	17
Adult males	18	19	17	18	17	18
Adult females	4	4	5	5	5	5
Crown Court
All offenders	50	62	53	53	54	57
All male offenders	53	65	56	55	56	60
Adult males	53	66	57	56	57	61
Adult females	20	21	8	24	16	22
All courts
All offenders	19	22	19	20	20	21
All male offenders	21	24	21	22	22	23
Adult males	23	25	23	24	23	24
Adult females	6	5	5	7	5	7

Note: 1997 and 1998 data by quarter are not available.

Table C1: Average sentence length given ^{1, 2} (months) for males and females aged 21 or over in Scottish courts, 1992 to 1996
Court type/gender	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Stipendiary Magistrates' courts
Males aged 21 or over	2.9	3.0	3.5	3.7	3.8
Females aged 21 or over	2.7	3.1	3.3	3.1	3.6
District Court
Males aged 21 or over	0.8	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.8
Females aged 21 or over	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.6	0.7
Sheriff Summary Court
Males aged 21 or over	3.4	3.4	3.7	3.7	3.6
Females aged 21 or over	2.9	3.0	3.4	3.0	3.2
Sheriff Solemn Court
Males aged 21 or over	13.7	15.1	15.8	16.5	17.0
Females aged 21 or over	9.4	12.5	12.8	15.9	16.2
High Court
Males aged 21 or over	57.2	52.4	57.8	57.0	61.1
Females aged 21 or over	32.4	31.2	38.6	34.8	39.6
All courts
Males aged 21 or over	8.0	8.1	7.9	8.3	8.5
Females aged 21 or over	3.4	4.0	4.3	4.5	5.2
¹There is no direct equivalent to indictable offences in Scotland. The figures in the table relate to all types of crimes and offences for which a charge was proved.
²Excludes life sentences, indeterminate retention and recalls.

Table C2: Percentage of persons with a charge ¹ proved in Scottish courts who were sentenced to custody, 1992 to 1996
Court type/gender	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Stipendiary Magistrates' courts
All offenders	19	22	22	18	16
All male offenders	19	23	22	19	16
Males aged 21 or over	22	25	23	20	18
Females aged 21 or over	19	21	26	18	16
District Court
All offenders	1	1	1	1	1
All male offenders	1	1	1	1	1
Males aged 21 or over	1	1	1	1	1
Females aged 21 or over	0	0	0	1	1
Sheriff Summary Court
All offenders	12	12	13	14	15
All male offenders	12	13	14	15	16
Males aged 21 or over	11	12	13	14	15
Females aged 21 or over	5	6	6	5	6

Table C2: Percentage of persons with a charge ¹ proved in Scottish courts who were sentenced to custody, 1992 to 1996
Court type/gender	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Sheriff Solemn Court
All offenders	58	61	64	65	68
All male offenders	60	64	66	67	71
Males aged 21 or over	62	65	68	70	74
Females aged 21 or over	20	30	29	37	38
High Court
All offenders	78	79	80	83	85
All male offenders	80	81	82	84	86
Males aged 21 or over	81	82	84	86	87
Females aged 21 or over	39	49	49	57	54
All courts
All offenders	8	9	10	10	11
All male offenders	9	11	11	12	12
Males aged 21 or over	9	10	10	11	12
Females aged 21 or over	3	4	5	4	4
¹There is no direct equivalent to indictable offences in Scotland. The figures in the table relate to all types of crimes and offences for which a charge was proved.

Volume 593: debated on Thursday 3 September 1998