Driving Offences: Insurance
Justice
Written answers and statements, 27 October 2008
Malcolm Moss (North East Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average sentence imposed by magistrates' courts for those found guilty of driving without car insurance was in the latest period for which information is available.
Maria Eagle (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Liverpool, Garston, Labour)
In 2006, the majority (94 per cent.) of offenders sentenced for 'using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks' received a fine.
The offence of driving without insurance is a summary offence. If the person committed a further offence while driving without insurance, such as causing injury to any person, they would be sentenced for the more serious crime.
Statistics for 2007 will be published at the end of November.
| Number of persons sentenced( 1) for the offence of using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks, by result, magistrates courts, 2006. England and Wales | |
| Number of persons | |
| Using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks | |
| Total number sentenced | 191,469 |
| Result | |
| Absolute discharge | 2,220 |
| Conditional discharge | 3,885 |
| Community penalty | 2,501 |
| Fine | 179,871 |
| Other sentences | 2,992 |
| (1) These data are on the principal offence basis. Notes: 1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. 2. Only four people received immediate custody at the magistrates court, with so few people sentenced the average custodial sentence length should be treated with caution. Source: OMS Analytical Services | |