§ Mr. Teddy Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the average sentence served by prisoners serving life sentences released in each year since 1945.
727W
§ Mr. William Ross:The average periods served before release on licence were:
Years Years Months Months 1945 12 0 1946* — — 1947* — — 1948 8 0 1949* — — 1950 11 10 1951* — — 1952 3 10 1953 8 3 1954 6 8 1955 4 6 1956 8 9 1957 10 9 1958 6 6 1959 8 7 1960* — — 1961* — — 1962 8 4 1963* — — 1964 9 5 1965* — — 1966 8 3 1967* — — 1968 9 5 1969 9 9 1970 10 4 1971 8 11 1972 9 6 1973 10 10 1974 9 9 1975 (to date) 8 10 * No life sentence prisoners were released on licence in these years. Averages are not, in my view, meaningful in this context. The number of cases is small, circumstances vary widely and each case has to be considered on its merits.