HC Deb 01 November 1988 vol 139 c617W
Mr. McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average length of custodial sentence of female prisoners in Scotland in the first six months of the current year.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

Statistics on court disposals during the current year are not yet available. However, on the basis of prison reception statistics, the average length of sentence of females received into the penal system on direct sentence in the first six months of 1988 was 111 days. Females sentenced to life imprisonment or indeterminate detention are not included in the above calculation.