§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing the average sentences served by persons serving life sentences released in each year since 1958;
268W(2) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the average sentences served by persons serving life sentences for murder, released in each year since 1958.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggReliable information for 1958 to 1975 is not readily available and the readily available information is given in the following table. The average figures do not take account of the longest periods being served by some of those given life sentences following the abolition of capital punishment in 1965 who have not yet been released. They also exclude persons who have died in custody or been discharged for other reasons.
My right hon. Friend has made it clear that those convicted of the most heinous murders can normally expect to serve at least 20 years in prison and in some cases even longer; and no life sentence prisoner is released no matter how long he or she has served unless my right hon. Friend is personally as satisfied as it is reasonably possible to be that there is no risk to the community.
Average time1 spent under sentence in Prison Service establishment in England and Wales by prisoners first released in 1976–87 on
licence from a life sentence
Average years2 under life sentence Year of release for murder for all offences 1976 9 8¾ 1977 9¾ 9¼ 1978 9¼ 9¼ 1979 9¼ 9 1980 10½ 10¼ 1981 9¾ 10¼ 1982 10½ 10¼ 1983 10½ 10½ 1984 10½ 10½ 1985 10¼ 10¼ 1986 11 11¼ 1987 11½ 11 1 Excluding any time spent on remand in custody. 2 Estimates rounded to the nearest quarter.