§ Mr. Brandon-BravoTo ask the Attorney-General how many referrals under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 have been made on the basis of alleged lenient sentences.
The Attorney-GeneralSince February 1989, when this part of the Criminal Justice Act came into force, I have sought the leave of the Court of Appeal to refer 69 cases, including five from Northern Ireland, in which the sentence passed appeared to me to be unduly lenient. Of these, in 36 cases the sentence was increased, seven cases were withdrawn by me, in a further 10 cases the sentence was not changed, in one case the sentence was lowered, and 15 cases remain outstanding.