§ Mr. Aitkenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of prisoners currently serving sentences in each of Her Majesty's prisons in England and Wales who at their court hearings had a plea on the grounds of diminished responsibility accepted; if he will list the categories of their crimes; and if he will give the average sentence for each category of crime.
§ Dr. SummerskillA plea of diminished responsibility is applicable only in cases of murder and if a plea of diminished responsibility is accepted the offence is314W reduced to manslaughter under section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957. Information on the number of persons serving prison sentences after being found guilty of "other homicide or attempted homicide" is published annually in "Prison Statistics, England and Wales"—table 1.5 of the volume for 1977, Cmnd. 7286, separate figures for those serving prison sentences for manslaughter under section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Information on the number of persons found guilty and sentenced under section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957 is published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" under offence classification 4—table 5 of the volume for 1977, Cmnd. 7289—and includes the distribution of the lengths of sentences of immediate imprisonment given—table 6 of the volume for 1977, Cmnd. 7289. The average length of sentence of immediate imprisonment is not readily available and would not show the variation that occurs.