Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been killed by someone who has previously been found guilty of homicide, imprisoned, and subsequently released, for the years for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The table below provides the number of people killed by offenders who were at the time on licence for an earlier homicide offence, for which they had served a prison sentence and been released. As they were on licence, when they were charged with a new offence of killing [homicide], it would have generated a formal serious further offence (SFO) notification to HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), and the number in each calendar year reflects the year in which HMPPS received the notification. The answer interprets homicide to include offences of murder, manslaughter, death by dangerous driving and death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs.
Data are not available on offenders with a previous conviction for homicide who had completed their sentence and associated statutory probation supervision by probation and then went on to commit a further homicide.
SFOs are rare. Fewer than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision are convicted of serious further offences. Nonetheless every single serious further offence is taken extremely seriously, and in all cases a review is carried out to identify any lessons for the better management of future cases.
Year SFO notification received | Total number of people killed in a SFO by someone convicted of homicide offences at both index offence and SFO |
2009 | 5 |
2010 | 3 |
2011 | 3 |
2012 | 0 |
2013 | 3 |
2014 | 3 |
2015 | 3 |
2016 | 0 |
2017 | 3 |
2018 | 3 |
2019[1] | 0 |
Data Sources and Quality. We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many offenders with previous convictions for homicide were convicted of homicide in (1) 2014, (2) 2015, (3) 2016, and (4) 2017.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The table below provides the number of offenders who were convicted of a further offence of homicide* between 2014 and 2017 and who were subject to probation supervision for a previous homicide conviction at the time.
Year | Total number of people convicted of homicide offences at both index offence and SFO |
(1) 2014 | 3 |
(2) 2015 | 3 |
(3) 2016 | 0 |
(4) 2017 | 3 |
Serious further offences by supervised offenders are rare, but each one is taken extremely seriously and investigated fully to identify any necessary actions when managing other cases.
Data is not available on offenders with a previous conviction for homicide who have completed their sentence and associated supervision by probation and then go on to commit a further homicide.
*Answer interprets homicide to include offences of murder, manslaughter, death by dangerous driving and death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many UK citizens are currently held in prisons in England and Wales (1) in detention without charge, and (2) without a date set for trial; and how many non-UK EU citizens are similarly detained.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
UK citizens are not normally detained in prison without charge. The number of UK citizens on remand awaiting trial as of 30 June 2017 was 5,242. It is not possible to state the numbers of these individuals who do not have a date set for trial because this data is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Individuals who are subject to extradition for charges brought by other jurisdictions can be held in prison pending extradition. As at 30 June 2017, the number of people in prison pending extradition was 105, of which 84 were non-UK EU nationals.
Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) who have served a sentence may continue to be held in prison beyond their sentence end date under immigration powers pending removal from the United Kingdom. As at 30 June 2017, the number of FNOs held in prison under immigration powers was 448 (including 122 non-UK EU nationals).
The Government is absolutely committed to increasing the number of FNOs removed from our prisons, and any foreign national who comes to our country and is sentenced to prison should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them. Increasing removals is one of our top priorities and all FNOs sentenced to custody are referred to the Home Office at the earliest opportunity to be considered for deportation.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 3 May (HL7756), in what manner they ensure that cyclists pay fines imposed by fixed penalty notices.
Answered by Lord Faulks
When a fixed penalty notice is issued offenders have 28 days in which to pay the amount ordered. No enforcement action is taken during this period but if the offender fails to pay within this time the fixed penalty notice is increased by 50% and registered as a court fine. HM Courts and Tribunals Service can then take the same enforcement steps as for any court ordered fine.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many offenders with previous convictions for homicide were convicted of homicide in 2014.
Answered by Lord Faulks
A life sentence is mandatory on conviction for murder and a whole life order starting point applies to a murder by an offender previously convicted of murder.
The table shows the number of offenders with previous convictions for homicide by offenders convicted of homicide in 2014.
Table: Number of previous convictions for homicide2 by people convicted of homicide1 in each year from 2009 to 2014 | |||
Number of offenders with a previous conviction(s) for homicide | |||
Year | |||
2009 | 3 | ||
2010 | 9 | ||
2011 | 14 | ||
2012 | 8 | ||
2013 | 9 | ||
2014 | 5 | ||
Source: Police National Computer (PNC) | |||
1. All offender figures are based on counting the number of sentencing occasions for an homicide offence committed by offenders who were prosecuted by police forces in England and Wales including the British Transport Police. Offenders who have been convicted on more than one occasion during the year and across the years will be represented in the table several times. | |||
2. All previous conviction figures are based on counting the number of convictions on which offenders have previously been convicted for a homicide offence recorded on the Police National Computer, including some offences committed outside of England and Wales. | |||
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Homicide includes among others, the offences of murder, manslaughter, infanticide, corporate manslaughter and causing death by dangerous or careless driving. See footnote 3 for all types of homicides.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their definition of marriage.
Answered by Lord Faulks
There is no single legal definition of marriage. Marriage in England and Wales is a legal relationship between two people that is provided for by the Marriage Act 1949, as amended.
Asked by: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been killed in the United Kingdom since 1984 by persons previously convicted of homicide.
Answered by Lord Faulks
A life sentence is mandatory on conviction for murder and a whole life order starting point applies to a murder by an offender previously convicted of murder. Discretionary life sentences or long determinate sentences are available for other very serious offences. This Government has introduced an automatic life sentence for a second very serious violent or sexual offence.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) holds information on those persons convicted of homicide offences having previously been convicted of a homicide offence. However, the MOJ does not hold information centrally on the number of homicide victims associated with these crimes.
The table shows the number of offenders with previous convictions for homicide by offenders convicted of homicide in each year from 2001 to 2013. Homicide includes among others, the offences of murder, manslaughter, infanticide, corporate manslaughter and causing death by dangerous and careless driving. See footnote 3 for all types of homicides.
The MoJ's extract of the Police National Computer only holds the complete criminal records of offenders who have been sentenced or cautioned since the beginning of 2000, Therefore it is not possible to provide criminal history time series information all the way back to 1984.
The figures given in the table have been drawn from the extract of Police National Computer (PNC) data held by the Ministry of Justice. As with any large scale recording system the PNC is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police.