Prisoners: Males

(asked on 16th May 2019) - View Source
Questioner
David Hanson Portrait
David Hanson
(Labour - Delyn)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many adult men with no previous convictions were taken into immediate custody from (a) Crown courts and (b) magistrates courts for sentences of (i) below six months and (ii) six months and over in each police force area in England and Wales in 2018-19; and what the offence classification was in each of those cases.

Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 23rd May 2019

Information on the numbers of adult women and adult men with no previous convictions who were taken into immediate custody from the Crown Courts and the Magistrates courts for sentences of below six months and six months and over are provided below. It is not possible to provide breakdowns by police force area because, due to low numbers, this would risk identification of the individuals concerned.

Number of adult1 female offenders with no previous convictions2 sentenced to immediate custody by court type3, sentence length4,5 and offence type; England and Wales6, 2018

Number of Offenders

Offence type7

Crown Court

Magistrates Court

Less than 6 months

6 months or more

Less than 6 months

6 months or more

Violence against the person

1

144

4

2

Sexual offences

0

25

0

0

Robbery

0

17

0

0

Theft Offences

3

67

67

5

Criminal damage and arson

0

20

0

0

Drug offences

7

80

0

2

Possession of weapons

3

18

7

1

Public order offences

0

8

3

0

Miscellaneous crimes against society

28

145

4

0

Fraud offences

3

91

2

1

Summary offences excluding motoring

2

1

14

1

Summary motoring offences

0

0

10

0

All offences

47

616

111

12

Source: Ministry of Justice extract of the Police National Computer

Notes:

1) Aged 18 or over at time of sentence.

2) Counting the number of female offenders who were convicted in court for the first time.

3) Includes crown and magistrates courts cases, where this information is recorded on the PNC.

4) 6 months has been assumed to be 180 days.

5) Excludes cases where the sentence length is not known

6) England and Wales includes all 43 police force areas plus the British Transport Police

7) For more detailed information on the offences included in each classification see the Offence Group Classifications file at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2017

8) The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Number of adult1 male offenders with no previous convictions2 sentenced to immediate custody by court type3, sentence length4,5 and offence type; England and Wales6, 2018

Number of Offenders

Offence type7

Crown Court

Magistrates Court

Less than 6 months

6 months or more

Less than 6 months

6 months or more

Violence against the person

15

946

34

28

Sexual offences

16

1,420

24

20

Robbery

0

161

0

4

Theft Offences

16

321

141

23

Criminal damage and arson

1

52

6

0

Drug offences

35

1,304

14

40

Possession of weapons

28

152

107

16

Public order offences

10

117

10

3

Miscellaneous crimes against society

124

833

67

28

Fraud offences

13

252

11

2

Summary offences excluding motoring

27

2

262

12

Summary motoring offences

2

1

76

0

All offences

287

5,561

752

176

Source: Ministry of Justice extract of the Police National Computer

Notes:

1) Aged 18 or over at time of sentence.

2) Counting the number of male offenders who were convicted in court for the first time.

3) Includes crown and magistrates courts cases, where this information is recorded on the PNC.

4) 6 months has been assumed to be 180 days.

5) Excludes cases where the sentence length is not known

6) England and Wales includes all 43 police force areas plus the British Transport Police

7) For more detailed information on the offences included in each classification see the Offence Group Classifications file at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2017

8) The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

There is persuasive evidence showing community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective than short custodial sentences in reducing reoffending. The MoJ study ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, community orders and suspended sentence orders on re-offending’ published in 2015 found that over a 1-year follow up period, a higher proportion of people re-offended having been sentenced to custody of under 12 months without supervision on release than other similar people given community orders.

Unless we tackle the underlying causes of offending, we cannot protect the public from being victims of crime. Effective community orders can address offenders’ behaviour, answer their mental health and alcohol or drug misuse needs, and provide reparation for the benefit of the wider community.

In the female offender strategy, published June 2018, we set out our vision to see fewer women coming into the criminal justice system, and a greater proportion managed successfully in the community.

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