Justice written question – answered at on 16 June 2011.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice
(1) how many people pleaded guilty before their case reached trial in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010;
(2) how many people received a 33 per cent. sentence discount for an early guilty plea in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010.
In 2009 and 2010, the number of defendants dealt with in the Crown court who entered a guilty plea before their case reached trial was 71,442 and 76,068, respectively. Information on the number of defendants pleading guilty before their case reaches trial in the magistrates courts is not collected centrally and could be gathered from court files only at disproportionate cost.
The above figures relate to defendants dealt with in cases that had been committed or sent for trial to the Crown court. Committed for trial cases can be heard in either a magistrates court or the Crown court (a defendant can elect to be tried in the Crown court before a judge and jury or a magistrate can decide that a case is sufficiently serious that it should be dealt with in the Crown court). Sent for trial cases can only be heard by the Crown court because of the severity of the offence committed.
A guilty plea is recorded when a defendant: (i) pleads guilty to all counts; (ii) pleads guilty to some counts and not guilty to others and no jury is sworn in respect of the not guilty counts; and (iii) pleads not guilty to some or all counts but offers a guilty plea to alternatives which are accepted (providing no jury is sworn in respect of the other counts).
Information about the extent to which sentences in individual cases are reduced by reason of a guilty plea is not recorded centrally.
Yes1 person thinks so
No1 person thinks not
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