§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give for the longest and
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Persons* found guilty of drug offences by type of offence who were recorded as not being British citizens United Kingdom Number of persons Offence 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 Unlawful production 1 1 1 — — 1 — 3 — Unlawful supply 70 71 81 92 70 68 74 90 124 Possession with intent to supply unlawfully† 7 50 83 80 71 85 74 115 104 Unlawful possession‡ 1,562 1,328 1,303 1,447 1,361 1,591 1,657 2,101 1,884 Cultivation of cannabis plant 33 38 43 66 78 93 125 190 123 Permitting premises to be used for unlawful purposes 54 44 34 37 25 27 28 28 19 Other Drugs Acts offences 4 7 22 12 22 22 22 47 56 Unlawful import or export 183 206 259 375 489 514 612 833 786 Other offences involving drugs 27 17 19 18 13 15 10 5 13 All drugs offences 1,793 1,588 1,638 1,924 1,944 2,207 2,408 3,159 2,857 Notes: * As the same person may be found guilty of more than one offence, rows cannot be added together to produce totals. † This offence was introduced by the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971 which came into force on 1 July 1973. ‡ Includes offences of procuring drugs committed before 1 July 1973 when the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971 came into force. most convenient stated period of time the number of prisoners sentenced to terms of imprisonment where the sentencing judge has made a recommendation that the person should serve a minimum stated sentence of years; and in how many of such instances prisoners have been released before the expiration of the time limit recommended by the sentencing judge.
§ Mr. MellorThe courts' statutory power to recommend a minimum period of detention applies only to adults convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
In England and Wales, 135 such recommendations were made from 1965—when the power was introduced—until the end of 1981. During the same period over 1,600 persons were convicted of murder.
Until the end of 1982, three life sentence prisoners convicted of murder had been released on licence at an earlier date than that recommended by the trial judge. In accordance with the provisions of section 61 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967, all three prisoners were released on the recommendation of the parole board and after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and, where he was available, the trial judge.