Prisons (Mother and Baby Units)

HC Deb 23 May 1988 vol 134 c1W

Mrs. Ann Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women in prison mother-and-baby units on the most recent convenient date had not previously served a custodial sentence; what were their ages; and for what offences they had been sentenced.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

Forty three women in mother and baby units on 13 May had not previously served a custodial sentence. Their ages are shown in table 1. They received custodial sentences for a wide range of offences and in many cases they were sentenced for more than one offence. Table 2 lists the primary offence in each case.

Table 1
Age	Number of women
16	1
18	4
19	3
20	4
21	1
23	7
24	2
25	7
26	4
27	1
29	1
30	1
31	2
32	2
33	1
35	1
36	1
Total	43

Table 2
Offence	Number of women
Wounding	1
Aiding and abetting rape	1
Robbery	3
Burglary	3
Shoplifting	2
Theft	7
Illegal importation of drugs	13
Conspiracy to smuggle drugs	1
Obtain by deception	4
Handling	3
Conspiracy	2
Fraud	1
Grievous bodily harm	1
Assault occasioning actual bodily harm	1
Total	43