Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 109196, how many people have been convicted of common assault and battery; and how many of these people did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by year of conviction and number of previous occasions the offender has been convicted for a violence against the person offence, and where that offence was common assault or battery, where the number of occasions was 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9+ previous convictions.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data requested is provided in the attached excel table. The table includes data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on the number of offenders who were convicted of common assault and battery offences who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence; separated by the number of previous occasions the offender had been convicted for a violence against the person offence where that offence was common assault and battery.
Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted of murdering a police officer by year of conviction for the period 2020-2024.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions for a wide range of offences, including murder in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK.
It is not possible to identify individual characteristics of murder victims, including their profession. This information may be held in court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) convicted of theft from a shop and (b) did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, broken down by (i) year of conviction in each of the past five years, and (ii) the number of previous occasions the offender had been convicted of theft from a shop.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data requested are provided in the attached excel tables. The tables include data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on:
- The number of offenders who were convicted of a child sex offence who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence by number of previous occasions where the offender was convicted of a child sex offence.
- The number of offenders who were convicted of an indictable offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions (between 7-10 previous convictions).
- The number of offenders who were convicted of a theft offence who did not receive immediate custody, by number of previous convictions (between 3-10 previous convictions).
- The number of offenders convicted of theft from a shop who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence by number of previous convictions for the same offence.
As set out in previous responses, this data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.
Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 109199, how many unique offenders were convicted for a theft offence and did not receive immediate custody in 2024 with 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 previous convictions for a theft offence, broken down by individual number of previous convictions.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data requested are provided in the attached excel tables. The tables include data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on:
- The number of offenders who were convicted of a child sex offence who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence by number of previous occasions where the offender was convicted of a child sex offence.
- The number of offenders who were convicted of an indictable offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions (between 7-10 previous convictions).
- The number of offenders who were convicted of a theft offence who did not receive immediate custody, by number of previous convictions (between 3-10 previous convictions).
- The number of offenders convicted of theft from a shop who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence by number of previous convictions for the same offence.
As set out in previous responses, this data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.
Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were a) convicted for child sexual offences and b) did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by year of conviction and number of previous occasions the offender has been convicted for child sexual offences for the period 2020-2024.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data requested are provided in the attached excel tables. The tables include data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on:
- The number of offenders who were convicted of a child sex offence who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence by number of previous occasions where the offender was convicted of a child sex offence.
- The number of offenders who were convicted of an indictable offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions (between 7-10 previous convictions).
- The number of offenders who were convicted of a theft offence who did not receive immediate custody, by number of previous convictions (between 3-10 previous convictions).
- The number of offenders convicted of theft from a shop who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence by number of previous convictions for the same offence.
As set out in previous responses, this data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.
Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Answer of 6 February 2026 to Question 109201, how many unique offenders were convicted for an indictable offence and did not receive immediate custody in 2024 with 7, 8, 9 and 10 previous convictions.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The data requested are provided in the attached excel tables. The tables include data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on:
- The number of offenders who were convicted of a child sex offence who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence by number of previous occasions where the offender was convicted of a child sex offence.
- The number of offenders who were convicted of an indictable offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions (between 7-10 previous convictions).
- The number of offenders who were convicted of a theft offence who did not receive immediate custody, by number of previous convictions (between 3-10 previous convictions).
- The number of offenders convicted of theft from a shop who did not receive an immediate custodial sentence by number of previous convictions for the same offence.
As set out in previous responses, this data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.
Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Answers of 2 February 2026 to Question 109197, 109198, 109199 and 109200, if he will publish the number of people who were (a) convicted of and (b) did not receive an immediate custodial sentence for a (i) robbery, (ii) burglary, (iii) theft and (iv) sexual offence by year of conviction and individual number of previous conviction for that offence up to a maximum of six convictions, rather than grouping previous convictions.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The breakdown requested for PQ 109197, PQ 109198 and PQ 109199 was provided in PQ response 111800. The data for PQ 109200 is provided in the attached excel table. The table includes data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on:
The number of offenders who were convicted of a specified offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions for that specified offence up to a maximum of 6.
As set out in previous responses, this data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.
Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in the last 12 months, how many individuals convicted of (a) a violent offence and (b) homicide had a recorded history of detention under the Mental Health Act 1983.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice does not hold the information requested. While the Ministry of Justice holds data on convictions, our data relating to the Mental Health Act 1983 covers only individuals detained as restricted [Criminal Justice] patients and does not capture any prior detention under the Act.
NHS England is responsible for information relating to detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983. Any relevant information is therefore held separately by different Departments and is not linked.
As a result, we are unable to provide a breakdown of individuals convicted of violent offences or homicide who have a prior history of Mental Health Act detention.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who were a) convicted for theft and b) did not receive an immediate custodial sentence were foreign nationals, by year of conviction.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The Ministry of Justice publishes data on convictions and sentences for a wide range of offences, including theft in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal justice statistics - GOV.UK
However, data held centrally does not include if the defendant is a foreign national. This information may be held in the court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Answers to Questions 109199, 109198, 109197 and 109196, if he will publish the spreadsheet with the information requested in these questions with the number of previous occasions the offender has been convicted as individual categories up to a maximum of six times rather than in groups.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The information requested is provided in the attached excel tables. These tables include data covering the period 2020 – 2024 on:
- The number of offenders who were convicted of a specified offence but did not receive an immediate custodial sentence, by the number of previous convictions for that specified offence up to a maximum of 6.
As set out in response to questions 109196-109199, this data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a bespoke retrieval from the Police National Computer database.
Previous convictions are already a statutory aggravating factor, with Sentencing Guidelines being clear that sentencers must consider the nature and relevance of previous convictions, and the time elapsed since the previous convictions.