Baroness Vickersasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether there have been any recent changes in sentencing trends in rape cases.
The Earl of CaithnessCourt sentencing figures for 1986 are not yet complete but more recent information is available on the effective length of all the sentences (including consecutive sentences) of persons received into prison for the principal offence of rape. It suggests a lengthening of sentences since the Lord Chief Justice's guideline judgment of 21st February 1986 inRv Billain:March-September 1986, about 45 per cent. of those entering prison under sentence for rape or attempted rape had an effective sentence length of more than five years; in the corresponding period of year earlier, the proportion was about 20 per cent.