Life Imprisonment

Ministry of Justice written question – answered at on 27 July 2022.

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Photo of The Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester Bishop

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people received a life sentence with a tariff of 25 years or more and were (1) under 18, (2) 18 to 20, (3) 21 to 24, (4) 25 to 29 (5) 30 to 34 (6) 35 to 39 (7) 40 to 49, (8) 50 to 59, (9) 60 to 69, and (19) 70 and older, at the time of sentencing, in each year since 2002.

Photo of The Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester Bishop

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the (1) mean, and (2) median, tariff length for people receiving a life sentence aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 20, (c) 21 to 24, (d) 25 to 29, (e) 30 to 34, (f) 35 to 39, (g) 40 to 49, (h) 50 to 59, (i) 60 to 69, and (j) 70 and older, at the time of sentencing, in each year since 2002.

Photo of The Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester Bishop

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were serving an imprisonment for public protection sentence with a tariff of 10 years or more in each year since 2002; and of those, how many were aged (1) 18 to 20, (2) 21to 24, (3) 25 to 29, (4) 30 to 34, (5) 35 to 39, (6) 40 to 49, (7) 50 to 59, (8) 60 to 69, (9) 70 and older, at the time of sentencing.

Photo of Lord Bellamy Lord Bellamy The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

By law, prisoners serving life and other indeterminate sentences must complete their tariff in custody and thereafter be released only when the Parole Board concludes that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public for them to remain confined to custody. The Government is committed to supporting prisoners to reduce their risk and so progress towards safe release, but the priority is always to protect the public.

HL1735

The following table shows the number of prisoners that received a life sentence with a tariff of 25 years or more and were (1) under 18, (2) 18 to 20, (3) 21 to 24, (4) 25 to 29 (5) 30 to 34 (6) 35 to 39 (7) 40 to 49, (8) 50 to 59, (9) 60 to 69, and (19) 70 years and older, at the time of sentencing, in each year since 2002.

Age at Sentence (in years)

Year of sentence

Under 18

18 to 20

21 to 24

25 to 29

30 to 34

35 to 39

40 to 49

50 to 59

60 to 69

70+

2002

0

0

*

0

0

0

*

0

0

0

2003

0

0

*

*

*

0

0

0

0

0

2004

0

0

*

*

*

*

*

0

0

0

2005

0

*

9

6

3

8

7

*

0

0

2006

0

3

10

24

9

9

9

4

0

0

2007

0

*

6

13

3

4

6

*

0

0

2008

0

*

11

21

14

7

15

*

0

0

2009

0

*

6

22

7

6

5

5

0

0

2010

0

5

10

12

13

11

8

*

*

0

2011

0

*

16

11

11

6

11

4

*

0

2012

*

6

16

26

14

11

10

*

4

0

2013

0

4

10

21

18

11

13

*

*

0

2014

0

9

26

16

12

6

7

5

*

0

2015

0

5

12

17

10

9

13

4

*

0

2016

*

5

10

12

11

12

10

6

*

0

2017

0

*

17

15

4

12

11

3

0

0

2018

0

5

25

15

15

11

15

9

*

0

2019

0

11

14

20

19

18

11

4

0

0

2020

0

3

15

13

6

14

9

3

*

*

2021

*

14

20

22

19

9

16

5

3

0

HL1736

The following tables show the (1) mean, and (2) median, tariff length for people receiving a life sentence aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 20, (c) 21 to 24, (d) 25 to 29, (e) 30 to 34, (f) 35 to 39, (g) 40 to 49, (h) 50 to 59, (i) 60 to 69, and (j) 70 years and older, at the time of sentencing, in each year since 2002.

Table 1 – ages (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 20, (c) 21 to 24, (d) 25 to 29

Age at Sentence (in years)

Under 18

18 to 20

21 to 24

25 to 29

Year of Sentence

Average

Median

Average

Median

Average

Median

Average

Median

2002

7

7

9

9

11

11

9

10

2003

9

9

9

9

11

11

9

8

2004

9

9

11

11

12

12

12

12

2005

9

8

10

11

13

12

12

13

2006

9

8

14

13

13

14

16

15

2007

11

10

14

14

14

14

16

14

2008

11

11

15

14

16

15

19

17

2009

12

11

15

14

17

16

20

18

2010

12

12

18

19

18

17

18

18

2011

13

13

17

17

20

19

19

18

2012

14

14

19

19

21

20

21

22

2013

11

11

16

15

19

18

20

20

2014

12

13

18

18

21

20

17

16

2015

13

14

18

19

19

19

20

20

2016

14

13

16

16

20

21

17

17

2017

13

13

17

18

20

20

18

19

2018

13

13

18

18

22

23

20

20

2019

15

15

19

18

21

21

20

20

2020

15

15

18

18

22

22

21

22

2021

15

15

19

18

21

21

20

21

Table 2 – ages (e) 30 to 34, (f) 35 to 39, (g) 40 to 49, (h) 50 to 59

Age at Sentence (in years)

30 to 34

35 to 39

40 to 49

50 to 59

Year of Sentence

Average

Median

Average

Median

Average

Median

Average

Median

2002

9

9

8

8

9

9

9

8

2003

10

10

9

9

9

9

7

4

2004

10

11

10

10

9

9

9

8

2005

11

12

12

12

10

8

12

12

2006

13

12

12

12

12

10

13

12

2007

14

14

13

14

13

12

13

13

2008

17

16

16

15

16

14

12

12

2009

17

15

17

15

15

15

18

17

2010

20

19

20

17

17

17

14

13

2011

18

17

18

17

18

18

16

16

2012

19

17

19

17

18

17

16

15

2013

19

17

19

19

17

16

15

14

2014

19

21

17

17

15

15

16

16

2015

17

17

18

20

15

14

15

15

2016

17

17

18

19

16

16

17

15

2017

16

16

17

17

16

16

14

14

2018

20

20

18

17

16

16

17

16

2019

20

20

21

17

17

18

17

18

2020

18

18

20

21

19

19

14

13

2021

20

19

18

18

18

18

18

18

Table 3 – ages (i) 60 to 69, and (j) 70 years and older

Age at Sentence (in years)

60 to 69

70 and over

Year of Sentence

Average

Median

Average

Median

2002

11

11

8

8

2003

5

5

11

11

2004

10

10

7

7

2005

7

6

NA

NA

2006

12

14

3

3

2007

9

7

9

11

2008

9

8

NA

NA

2009

13

13

NA

NA

2010

15

14

9

9

2011

15

13

NA

NA

2012

19

17

11

11

2013

14

14

9

9

2014

13

10

14

12

2015

18

19

10

9

2016

20

16

11

11

2017

10

10

12

13

2018

15

13

13

13

2019

14

15

14

14

2020

15

14

29

29

2021

18

18

14

14

HL1737

The following tables show the number of prisoners serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) with a tariff of 10 years or more in each year since 2002; and of those, how many were aged (1) 18 to 20, (2) 21to 24, (3) 25 to 29, (4) 30 to 34, (5) 35 to 39, (6) 40 to 49, (7) 50 to 59, (8) 60 to 69, (9) 70 years and older, at the time of sentencing, as at 30 June 2012 to 2021.

Table1 – Year of sentence: 30 June 2012 to 30 June 2016

Age at Sentence (in years)

Year of Sentence

30/06/2012

30/06/2013

30/06/2014

30/06/2015

30/06/2016

Total

91

95

94

94

92

18 - 20

7

7

6

6

6

21 - 24

15

16

15

14

14

25 - 29

18

20

20

21

21

30 - 34

11

11

11

10

10

35 - 39

8

8

8

8

8

40 - 49

19

20

21

22

21

50 - 59

9

10

10

10

9

60 - 69

*

*

*

*

*

70 and over

*

*

*

*

*

Table 2 – Year of sentence: 30 June 2017 to 30 June 2021

Age at Sentence (in years)

Year of Sentence

30/06/2017

30/06/2018

30/06/2019

30/06/2020

30/06/2021

Total

90

87

89

84

76

18 - 20

5

5

5

*

0

21 - 24

14

12

12

13

11

25 - 29

20

20

20

19

17

30 - 34

10

11

11

10

11

35 - 39

8

7

7

7

*

40 - 49

21

21

21

20

17

50 - 59

9

8

10

11

10

60 - 69

*

*

*

*

*

70 and over

*

*

*

*

*

Notes for all figures:

  1. Due to rounding, the interquartile range may not equal the difference between the third and first quartiles.

  1. Tariff length is the time between date of sentence and tariff expiry date.

  1. Figures do not include whole-life orders.

  1. 'NA' means not applicable

  1. An asterisk (*) has been used to suppress values of one or two. This is to prevent the disclosure of individual information. Further disclosure control may be completed where this alone is not sufficient.

  1. Numbers are subject to revision as more data become available.

  1. The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Data has been supplied for as many of the requested years as it is possible to provide within cost limits; earlier years may not be available due to changes in recording over time.

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