§ Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Solicitor-General how many cases were referred to the Court of Appeal in 2002 on the grounds that the sentence was unduly lenient; if she will list the offences, broken down by type of offence; how many referrals there were, expressed as a percentage of cases dealt with for each crime; and if she will make a statement. [105418]
§ The Solicitor-General[holding answer 1 April 2003]In 2002 the Attorney-General and I referred a total of 112 cases (with a total of 149 offenders) to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient sentences.
The following table lists offences referred to the Court of Appeal. These figures represent only one lead offence per case.
The Crown Prosecution Service do not keep records broken down by type of offence and it is not therefore possible to represent the number of referrals to the Court of Appeal as a percentage of the cases dealt with for each crime.
279W
Offence category Number of cases in each offence category
referred to the Court
of Appeal by the Law
Officers
Abduction 1 ABH 1 Affray and threats to kill 1 Aggravated burglary 6 Arson 2 Assault with intent to rob 1 Attempt to pervert the course of justice 1 Attempt murder 2 Attempt rape, indecent assault 1 Attempt robbery 1 Blackmail 1 Buggery 1 Burglary 2 Conspiracy to defraud 3 Conspiracy to possess firearms 1 Conspiracy to rob 1 Conspiracy to steal 1 Death by dangerous driving 8 Drugs offences 13 Forgery and perverting the course of justice 1
Offence category Number of cases in each offence category
referred to the Court
of Appeal by the Law
Officers
GBH with intent 4 Indecent assault 11 Kidnap, false imprisonment 1 Manslaughter 8 Murder 1 Firearms offences 4 Possession of explosives 1 Rape 3 Robbery 18 Section 18 offences 3 Section 20 1 Theft 3 Unlawful sexual intercourse 1 Wounding with intent 4