Mr. Edward Taylorasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he now refuses to state the average number of years served by persons released from prison over the past 10 years after serving life sentences on the grounds that such a figure would be unrealistic and could be misleading, when he provided such average figures for each of the years 1961 to 1971 in a written answer on Friday 11th February 1972.
§ Mr. CarlisleI gave my hon. Friend on 22nd January full information about the periods of detention served by prisoners released from prison after being sentenced to life imprisonment. I did not give the information in terms of an "average" period because, as I said, I consider this concept to be unrealistic. The terms served by life sentence prisoners released from prisons in England and Wales in the last five years range from six months to 24 years. The sentences were imposed for offences committed in a wide range of circumstances, and for a wide range of motives, and they include sentences imposed for offences of manslaughter and offences other than homicide. As I have informed my hon. Friend, the mathematical mean of the terms is 8.7 years. But I am concerned that the publication of so-called "average" periods should not lead anyone to underestimate the terms likely to be served by heinous offenders convicted of murder.