Sentencing Statistics, 2008

Statistics on sentencing include data for England and Wales for the period up to the end of December 2008. The latest release updates the statistics previously released on 4 December 2008.

The key points for Wales are:

• The total number of defendants sentenced in 2008 was 75,000. This was a reduction of 15 per cent compared with 2007. There was a 4 per cent increase to 18,000 in the numbers sentenced for indictable (including triable-either-way) offences.
• The total number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody in 2008 was 5,700, a 9 per cent increase from 2007. The magistrates’ courts saw a decrease of 1 per cent over the year, to 2,800, whilst the number of custodial sentences at the Crown Court increased 20 per cent, to 2,900.
• Of offenders sentenced for indictable offences in 2008, 25 per cent attracted a custodial sentence. The average sentence length for these offenders was 14.5 months, 0.5 months longer than 2007.
• The number of offenders given community sentences in 2008 was 10,000, with a 4 per cent decrease from 2007. The number of offenders given community sentences for indictable offences was 5,400.
• The number of offenders fined for all offences in 2008 was 50,000, a 20 per cent decrease compared with 2007. The number of offenders given fines for indictable offences was 3,400.

Categories of offences:

Criminal offences are split into three categories as follows.

Triable only on indictment -  These offences are the most serious breaches of the criminal law and must be tried at the Crown Court. These ‘indictable-only’ offences include murder, manslaughter, rape and robbery.

Triable either way -  These offences may be tried either at the Crown Court or at a magistrates’ court. These offences include criminal damage where the value is £5,000 or greater, theft and burglary.

Summary -  These offences are triable only by a magistrates’ court. This group is dominated by motoring offences for some of which fixed penalties can be issued, but also includes such offences as common assault and criminal damage up to £5,000.

Note: During 2008, some data from South Wales Criminal Justice Area for April, July and August were corrupted during the transmission to the Ministry of Justice. Despite all efforts by the court staff and IT departments it has proved impossible to retrieve the information and has consequently been excluded from this report. This has a small effect on all comparisons of numbers sentenced between 2008 and other years.

For further information, please refer to the Ministry of Justice website to access the report in full. See Appendix 1 for Procedures within the Criminal Justice System.

Contact

Tel: 029 2082 5208
E-mail: stats.inclusion@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Next update

November 2010 (provisional - to be confirmed on Due Out Soon page)