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21 Apr 2008 : Column 1881W—continued


Sentencing

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 31 March 2008,
21 Apr 2008 : Column 1882W
Official Report, column 562W, on sentencing, (1) what the figures in the table represented as a percentage of the total number of people convicted of a third class A drug trafficking offence in each year since 2000; and what the average sentence was of all those convicted of such an offence in each of those years; [199529]

(2) what the figures in the table represented as a percentage of the total number of people convicted of a third domestic burglary offence in each year since 2000; and what the average sentence was of all those convicted of such an offence in each of those years. [199530]

Mr. Hanson: I am unable to answer the questions, because the Courts Proceedings Database does not include criminal histories.

The Courts Proceedings Database does not allow us to identify all those offenders who have committed their third class A drug trafficking offence or third domestic burglary. We can identify those who were given the minimum only through a specific disposal code. To identify all these individuals would require us to extract data from the Police National Computer (PNC). This would take time and we think would not be reliable for drug trafficking as our extract of PNC records police prosecutions only. In addition, the results from the two separate administrative systems may not be directly comparable due to differences in recording practice.

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of (a) males and (b) females given prison sentences in each of the last 10 years were aged (i) below 16, (ii) 16 to 18, (iii) 19 to 21, (iv) 22 to 25, (v) 26 to 30, (vi) 31 to 40, (vii) 41 to 50 and (viii) 51 years or over; and if he will make a statement. [200114]

Mr. Hanson: The requested information is contained in the following tables. The data are broken down into the age groups of juveniles (10-17), young adults (18-20) and adults (21+).

For persons aged 21 and over this includes all adult persons where the age has not been reported to the Ministry of Justice.

Statistics for 2007 will be published in the autumn.

Number of persons sentenced( 1) and given immediate custody by age and sex, all courts, England and Wales, 1997 to 2006
Number of persons and percentages
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Age group Immediate custody Percentage of total( 2) Immediate custody Percentage of total( 2) Immediate custody Percentage of total( 2) Immediate custody Percentage of total( 2) Immediate custody Percentage of total( 2)

Male

10 to 17

6,775

7.7

6,881

7.3

7,244

7.4

6,968

7.1

7,147

7.3

18 to 20

15,143

17.1

16,152

17.2

17,048

17.4

17,324

17.6

16,882

17.2

21 +

66,417

75.2

70,966

75.5

73,527

75.2

73,995

75.3

74,183

75.5

Total

88,335

100

93,999

100

97,819

100

98,287

100

98,212

100

Female

10 to 17

308

5.6

336

5.1

409

5.5

446

5.6

449

5.6

18 to 20

642

11.7

851

13.0

963

12.8

1,117

14.1

1,066

13.2

21 +

4,292

78.0

5,100

77.7

5,767

76.9

5,933

75.1

6,106

75.7

Total

5,506

100

6,567

100

7,504

100

7,900

100

8,061

100


21 Apr 2008 : Column 1883W

21 Apr 2008 : Column 1884W

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Age group Immediate custody Percentage of total( 2) Immediate custody Percentage of total( 2) Immediate custody Percentage of total( 2) Immediate custody Percentage of total( 2) Immediate custody Percentage of total( 2)

Male

10 to 17

6,886

6.7

5,776

5.8

5,881

6.0

5,512

5.9

5,730

6.5

18 to 20

16,290

15.9

14,465

14.6

13,817

14.2

13,351

14.4

13,046

14.8

21 +

79,600

77.4

78,619

79.5

77,870

79.8

74,092

79.7

69,397

78.7

Total

102,776

100

98,860

100

97,568

100

92,955

100

88,173

100

Female

10 to 17

530

6.0

424

4.8

444

5.1

503

6.1

453

5.8

18 to 20

1,073

12.2

973

11.0

819

9.4

880

10.6

851

10.8

21 +

6,750

76.4

6,943

78.8

7,093

81.0

6,545

79.0

6,540

83.4

Total

8,831

100

8,810

100

8,754

100

8,281

100

7,844

100

(1) Principal offence basis.
(2 )Percentage of the total number of males and females respectively sentenced for all ages, all courts.
Note:
These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
Source:
RDS-NOMS, Ministry of Justice

Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average age was of (a) males and (b) females given a custodial sentence in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [200115]

Mr. Hanson: All adult offenders where the age has not been reported to the Ministry of Justice are assumed to be age 25. This will create a bias in the calculation of average age and therefore we do not produce figures on this basis.

Sentencing: Young People

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many sentences were given to young offenders, broken down by type of offence, in each of the last 10 years. [199329]

Mr. Hanson: The available information is contained in the table.

Statistics for 2007 will be published in the autumn.


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