§ Ms. GordonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what proportion of life sentences are mandatory and what proportion are non-mandatory; what is the average length of a mandatory life sentence; what is the average length of a non-mandatory life sentence; and how many people are serving non-mandatory life sentences;
(2) how many people sentenced to non-mandatory life sentences have been in prisons for 10 years but under 12 years, between 12 and 15 years and over 15 years respectively.
§ Mr. John Patten[holding answer 20 June 1988]: Of the 244 offenders given life sentences in 1986, 73 per cent. were convicted of murder, for which life is the mandatory sentence, and 27 per cent. for other offences.
The average time served under sentence in prison department establishments in England and Wales by those released on licence from a life sentence in the three years 1984 to 1986 was about 10⅔ years. The average was fractionally higher for those serving life sentences for offences other than murder, possibly because of the higher risk of reoffending associated with some offences of rape, manslaughter and arson and reflected in the court's original decision to impose a life sentence.
The average figures do not take account of the longest periods being served by some of those given life sentences following the abolition of capital punishment in 1965 who have not yet been released. They also exclude persons who have died in custody or been discharged for other reasons. My right hon. Friend has made it clear that those convicted of the most heinous murders can normally expect to serve at least 20 years in prison and in some cases even longer; and no life sentence prisoner is released, no matter how long he or she has served, unless my right hon. Friend is personally as satisfied as it is reasonably possible to be that there is no risk to the public.
On 31 March 1988, 521 prisoners were serving life sentences for offences other than murder. Information about their time served is given in the following table:
492W
Years spent under sentence1 for the original life sentence Number of prisoners2 Not released on licence Under ten 338 Ten and under twelve 63
§ Mr. RentonThe latest information is as follows:
Years spent under sentence1 for the original life sentence Number of prisoners2 Twelve up to fifteen 53 Over fifteen 47 Recalled from licence 20 1 Excluding any time spent on remand in custody or in non-prison department establishments. 2 The figures are those recorded centrally and are approximate.