Life Imprisonment: Rape
(asked on 13th July 2015) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders were sentenced to life imprisonment for the offence of rape in each of the last five years.
Rape carries a maximum penalty of a life sentence. In addition, since December 2012 an automatic life sentence applies to any offender convicted of a second very serious sexual crime. The courts impose tough sentences and more adult sex offenders are being imprisoned, and for longer. The average custodial sentence length has increased from seven years’ imprisonment in 2004 to nearly 10 years’ imprisonment in 2014, not including cases where an indeterminate sentence was imposed.
The number of offenders sentenced at all courts to immediate custody for life for rape offences in England and Wales, in 2010 to 2014, can be viewed in the CJS Outcomes by Offence data tool in the recent Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly (December 2014) release. It can be viewed using the link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014
The proportion of offenders sentenced at all courts for rape offences who were sentenced to immediate custody for life over the same time period, in England and Wales, can be viewed in the table below.
| Proportion of offenders sentenced at all courts for rape offences who were sentenced to immediate custody for life(1), England and Wales, 2010 to 2014 (2)(3) | ||||
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| 1% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| (1) Includes offences under SS.1 & 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and S.7 Sexual Offences Act 1956. Includes attempted rape. | ||||
| (2) 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. | ||||
| (3) 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. | ||||
| Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. | ||||
| Ref: PQ 6635 | ||||