Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) maximum, (b) minimum and (c) average sentence has been for people convicted under (i) Article 137; (ii) Article 139; (iii) Article 140; (iv) Article 141 and (v) Article 142 of the Air Navigation Order 2009 to date.

The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts (with average fine and custodial sentence, together with the highest custodial sentence) for offences under sections of the Air Navigation Order 2009 in England and Wales from 2011 to 2014 can be viewed as below:-

• Data for Section 137 can be viewed in Table 1
• Data for Section 139 can be viewed in Table 2
• Data for Section 140 can be viewed in Table 3
• Data for Section 141 can be viewed in Table 4
• Data for Section 142 can be viewed in Table 5.

Please note the minimum sentence that can be passed is an absolute discharge

Criminal Justice Statistics for 2015 are planned for publication in spring 2016

The Air Navigation Order 2009 came into effect on 1 January 2010 so the question does not apply to results for 2009. Also, a proportion of offences in 2010 would have been under the Air Navigation Order 2005, and from centrally held data we cannot separately identify whether or not offences which took place in this year were under the Air Navigation Order 2009. This information may be held in individual court files, which could only be inspected at disproportionate cost. As a result, results have been presented from 2011 onwards.

Sentencing is a matter for our independent courts, who take into account all the circumstances of each case and follow sentencing guidelines issued by the independent Sentencing Council.