§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Attorney-General (1) how many appeals against sentences of imprisonment were finally 536W considered after the sentences had been served in each of the past five years;
(2) what has been the average time between sentence and the final consideration of an appeal against sentence in cases tried (a) in the magistrates' court and (b) in the Crown Court in each of the past five years.
§ The Attorney-GeneralI regret that this information is not available and cannot be obtained without an expenditure of time and manpower which would not be justified. However, both the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court take special care to ensure that appeals involving short custodial sentences are expedited and priority is given to the disposal of such appeals. If the hon. Member has any specific case in mind I shall be glad to look into it.