§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what percentage of(a) men and (b) women convicted of crimes of violence were sent to prison in 1988;
(2) what percentage of convicted (a) men and (b) women were sent to prison in 1988;
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe information requested is not yet available. Figures for 1987 are given in the table:
Percentage of men and women aged over 21 with a charge proved against them who were given a sentence of imprisonment Men Women All crimes and offences 8.0 3.5 Crimes of violence1 40.0 9.6 1 Includes homicide, serious assault, carrying offensive weapons, robbery, cruelty to children etc.
§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of(a) men and (b) women with no previous convictions were sent to prison in 1988.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonInformation on men or women first offenders who received a prison sentence as a percentage of those convicted of a first offence is not collected.
§ Mrs. FyfeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of women prisoners in 1987 and 1988(a) had previously been in prison and (b) had previous convictions and non-custodial sentences.
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§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe only statistical information held centrally on the previous sentences and convictions of inmates is obtained from the inmates on reception into the penal establishment and may not be completely reliable. The figures from this source are as follows:
Women received under sentence into prisons in Scotland Percentage admitting: 1987 1988 Previous direct prison sentence 69.0 69.5 Other direct custodial sentence (but not direct prison sentence) 4.7 4.2 Other previous sentence only (non-custodial or custodial sentence in default of fine/compensation order) 7.6 11.7 No previous sentence 18.7 14.6