§ Mr. RookerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the length of time(a) the longest serving prisoner currently on remand and (b) the longest currently serving convicted prisoner has served.
§ Mrs. RumboldAccording to the records held centrally, which are approximate, the latest readily available information is as follows.
The longest period a person had been held in custody on 30 September 1990 awaiting or during his trial was just over two years and seven months. The trial was completed on 1 November.
On 30 September 1990 the longest continuous period spent in prison service custody under sentence by a serving prisoner was just over 38 years and two months. One other serving prisoner who had been recalled following an earlier release on life sentence licence had spent a total of almost 40 years and 10 months in prison service establishments under sentence.