Justice written question – answered on 30 April 2012.
Priti Patel
Conservative, Witham
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice
(1) how many individuals convicted of (a) rape and (b) sexual offences were aged (i) 16 years or under, (ii) 16 to 18 years, (iii) 18 to 21 years and (iv) 21 years and over when the offence was committed in each of the last five years;
(2) what the average custodial sentence was for an offender convicted of (a) rape and (b) other sexual offences and aged (i) 16 years or under, (ii) 16 to 18 years, (iii) 18 to 21 years and (iv) 21 years and over when the offence was committed in each of the last five years.
Crispin Blunt
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice) (Prisons and Probation)
The number of persons found guilty at all courts and sentenced to immediate custody and the average determinate custodial sentence length (months), for rape offences and other sexual offences, by age breakdown at the time of court appearance, in England and Wales from 2006 to 2010 (latest available) can be viewed in the following tables.
Annual court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication on
| Persons found guilty at all courts, sentenced to an immediate custodial sentence and the average custodial sentence length (months) (1) , for rape and other sexual offences by age breakdown in England and Wales, 2006-10 (2, 3) | |||||||||
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 (4) | |||||||
| Age breakdown and offence | Found guilty | Immediate custody | Average custodial sentence length | Found guilty | Immediate custody | Average custodial sentence length | Found guilty | Immediate custody | Average custodial sentence length |
| Under 16 | |||||||||
| Rape or attempted rape | 39 | 16 | 45.4 | 38 | 18 | 34.9 | 39 | 22 | 46.7 |
| Other sexual offences | 211 | 15 | 11.9 | 227 | 13 | 21.2 | 201 | 19 | 12.5 |
| 16 to under 18 | |||||||||
| Rape or attempted rape | 46 | 36 | 46.2 | 45 | 41 | 51.6 | 52 | 43 | 46.9 |
| Other sexual offences | 196 | 34 | 15.4 | 233 | 31 | 14.2 | 225 | 34 | 13.4 |
| 18 to under 21 | |||||||||
| Rape or attempted rape | 79 | 72 | 66.0 | 81 | 73 | 55.5 | 83 | 75 | 64.7 |
| Other sexual offences | 291 | 87 | 17.1 | 331 | 123 | 22.6 | 295 | 111 | 22.2 |
| 21 and over | |||||||||
| Rape or attempted rape | 699 | 680 | 85.7 | 709 | 689 | 91.7 | 748 | 725 | 97.1 |
| Other sexual offences | 3,329 | 1,866 | 28.5 | 3,395 | 1,819 | 28.8 | 3,473 | 1,971 | 28.6 |
| 2009 | 2010 | |||||
| Age breakdown and offence | Found guilty | Immediate custody | Average custodial sentence length | Found guilty | Immediate custody | Average custodial sentence length |
| Under 16 | ||||||
| Rape or attempted rape | 29 | 14 | 40.8 | 38 | 11 | 42.0 |
| Other sexual offences | 231 | 8 | 13.0 | 268 | 16 | 12.2 |
| 16 to under 18 | ||||||
| Rape or attempted rape | 58 | 44 | 57.9 | 42 | 34 | 54.1 |
| Other sexual offences | 183 | 33 | 17.6 | 237 | 34 | 15.9 |
| 18 to under 21 | ||||||
| Rape or attempted rape | 82 | 75 | 62.3 | 93 | 78 | 63.3 |
| Other sexual offences | 293 | 108 | 22.6 | 394 | 159 | 23.9 |
| 21 and over | ||||||
| Rape or attempted rape | 828 | 808 | 101.5 | 885 | 861 | 103.0 |
| Other sexual offences | 3,403 | 1,897 | 30.8 | 3,827 | 2,094 | 31.8 |
| (1) Excludes life and indeterminate sentences. (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. (4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | ||||||
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