Life Imprisonment
(asked on 23rd June 2015) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders sentenced to life in the last 15 years had received one or more previous life sentence on a separate sentencing occasion.
A life sentence is mandatory for murder and other serious offences have a maximum penalty of a life sentence. In addition, there is an automatic life sentence for a second very serious violent or sexual offence. Once the minimum custodial term imposed by the court has been served in full, offenders can be considered for release on life licence by the Parole Board. Offenders will not be released unless the Parole Board, having carefully reviewed the evidence, believe that the offender no longer represents a risk to the public. An offender released on life licence can be recalled to prison at any time if their behaviour gives rise to cause for concern.
The number of offenders given life sentences and those with one or more previous life sentence in England and Wales, 2000-2014, is given in the table below. Some of these offenders have received a further life sentence for an offence committed in prison, or for an offence committed before being imprisoned and which only came to light subsequently.
Number of offenders(1) given life sentences and those with one or more previous life sentence(2) in England and Wales, 2000-2014 | ||||
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Year(3) |
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| Number of offenders with one or more previous life sentence |
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2000 |
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| 9 |
2001 |
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| 6 |
2002 |
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| 13 |
2003 |
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| 8 |
2004 |
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| 9 |
2005 |
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| 12 |
2006 |
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| 11 |
2007 |
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| 7 |
2008 |
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| 6 |
2009 |
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| 5 |
2010 |
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| 5 |
2011 |
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| 11 |
2012 |
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| 11 |
2013 |
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| 13 |
2014 |
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| 13 |
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Source: Ministry of Justice, Police National Computer (PNC) | ||||
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1. Figures are based on counting the number of sentencing occasions for offences committed by offenders which were prosecuted by police forces in England and Wales including the British Transport Police. | ||||
2. Figures are based on counting the number of occasions on which offenders have previously received a life sentence as recorded on the Police National Computer. | ||||
3. These are 12 month periods to the end of December | ||||
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Data Source and Quality |
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These figures 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 and are subject to revision in future editions | ||||