HC Deb 12 February 1979 vol 962 c376W
Mr. Grocott

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average length of imprisonment to which people convicted of rape were sentenced in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr. John

Excluding six people who were sentenced to life imprisonment, in 1977 in England and Wales the average length of sentence passed for rape was four years. However, the average does not show the variation that occurs and I would refer my hon. Friend to Table 6 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1977" (Cmnd. 7289) which gives the distribution of the lengths of sentences passed for rape.