Assaults on Police

(asked on 12th October 2016) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what average length of sentence has been given to people prosecuted under section (a) 89(1) and (b) 89(2) of the Police Act 1996 in each year since 2010.


Answered by
Sam Gyimah Portrait
Sam Gyimah
This question was answered on 20th October 2016

The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and offenders found guilty and sentenced at all courts, including those specifically sentenced to immediate custody, with average custodial sentence length, of offences under Section 89(1)&(2) of the Police Act 1996, in England and Wales, from 2010 to 2015, can be viewed in the table.

Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences under Section 89 (1) (2) Police Act 1996 , England and Wales, 2010 to 2015 (1)(2)(3)

Offence

Outcome

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Assault a constable

Proceeded against

10,351

11,099

10,201

9,432

8,930

9,055

Found guilty

8,695

9,424

8,592

7,840

7,486

7,629

Average custodial sentence length for those offenders sentenced to immediate custody (3)

2.5

2.4

2.4

2.3

2.2

2.2

Resist / obstruct a constable

Proceeded against

6,894

6,395

5,260

4,823

4,748

4,294

Found guilty

5,486

5,054

4,116

3,772

3,715

3,424

Average custodial sentence length for those offenders sentenced to immediate custody (3)

0.7

0.7

0.7

0.8

0.7

0.7

Assault / resist a person assisting a constable

Proceeded against

102

83

99

80

86

93

Found guilty

76

62

67

59

65

67

Average custodial sentence length for those offenders sentenced to immediate custody (3)

2.6

2.1

*

*

*

1.8

* = Figure suppressed as number too small to give meaningful average.

(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

(3) Average custodial sentence length is displayed in months, and excludes life and indeterminate sentences.

Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.

Ref: PQ 48336-48337

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