§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the average length of sentence of imprisonment imposed in each of the last 10 years upon offenders convicted of(a) rape, (b) buggery and indecency between males, (c) indecent assaults on adults, (d) gross indecency between children, and (e) other sexual offences;
(2) how many individuals convicted of offences of (a) sexual assaults on an adult, (b) buggery or indecency between males, (c) rape, and (d) gross indecency with a child were given sentences of (i) immediate imprisonment, (ii) suspended imprisonment, (iii) community service, (iv) probation, (v) a fine, and (vi) discharge in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. John PattenThe information for England and Wales for the years 1980, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989 is given in the tables. To produce further information for the other years requested would involve disproportionate cost. The 1990 data are not yet available.
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Table A Number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody and average length of sentence imposed for certain sexual offences by type of court 1980, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989 England and Wales Magistrates' Courts Crown Court Offence Year Total immediate custody Average sentence length (months) Total immediate custody1 Average sentence length (months) Rape 1980 2 3 296 44 1985 — — 310 54 1987 — — 325 75 1988 — — 387 75 1989 — — 433 75 Buggery and indecency between males 1980 7 4 142 34 1985 2 5 190 32 1987 6 5 222 43 1988 5 2 246 43 1989 2 3 203 42 Indecent assaults on adults 1980 50 4 64 12 1985 64 4 133 14 1987 49 4 208 23 1988 47 3 237 22 1989 48 4 289 23 Gross indecency with children 1980 13 6 24 13 1985 23 4 56 14 1987 11 3 92 13 1988 10 5 87 13 1989 9 3 59 11 Other sexual (indictable) offences 1980 170 4 685 23 1985 185 4 916 22 1987 142 4 1,268 26 1988 129 4 1,292 25 1989 73 4 1,247 27 1Excludes 'Lifers' if which:—
In 1980 there were 4 for rape and 2 for buggery and indecency between males;
In 1985 there were 9 for rape and 1 for other sexual (indictable) offences;
In 1987 there were 12 for rape and 1 for buggery and indecency between males and 1 for other sexual (indictable) offences;
In 1988 there were 10 for rape and 2 for buggery and indecency between males and 1 for other sexual (indictable) offences; and
In 1989 there were 12 for rape, 6 for buggery and indecency between males and 1 for other sexual (indictable) offences.
2Denotes less than one month.
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Table B Number of offenders sentenced for certain sexual offences by type of court and result 1980, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989 England and Wales Offence Year Total sent Imm. custody Fully suspended sentence Community service order Probation order Fine Absent or conditional discharge Other Magistrates' courts Indecent assault on an adult 1980 741 50 34 7 122 316 120 92 1985 561 64 40 17 126 170 87 57 1987 516 49 31 14 122 165 72 63 1988 593 47 43 11 122 209 88 73 1989 663 48 40 16 125 238 129 67 Buggery and indecency between males 1980 1,489 7 23 1 31 1,291 118 18 1985 611 2 4 1 17 493 83 11 1987 874 6 6 22 709 116 15 1988 1,233 5 15 3 30 1,034 129 17 1989 1,391 2 9 3 24 1,194 145 14 Rape 1980 9 2 — — — — — 7 1985 1 — — — — — — 1 1987 2 — — — — — — 2 1988 2 — — — — — — 2 1989 3 — — — — 1 1 1 Gross indecency with children 1980 211 13 35 — 70 52 23 18 1985 177 23 17 3 82 24 16 12 1987 117 11 7 1 50 25 10 13 1988 99 10 8 1 45 18 12 5 1989 100 9 10 3 40 16 11 11 Crown Court Indecent 1980 133 64 25 6 11 10 10 7
Offence Year Total sent Imm. custody Fully Suspended sentence Community service order Probation order Fine Absent or conditional discharge Other assault on 1985 213 133 25 4 24 8 8 11 an adult 1987 323 208 42 5 31 18 3 16 1988 368 237 54 4 29 14 12 18 1989 455 289 67 7 44 16 10 22 Buggery and indecency between males 1980 351 144 58 2 23 89 20 15 1985 362 190 33 8 27 68 27 9 1987 333 223 29 5 25 22 19 10 1988 428 248 35 4 42 54 24 21 1989 365 209 37 2 31 46 25 15 Rape 1980 326 300 4 3 3 — — 16 1985 341 319 5 — — — — 17 1987 347 337 — — — — — 10 1988 418 397 2 — 3 — 1 15 1989 473 445 2 1 4 — — 21 Gross indecency with children 1980 54 24 17 — 9 2 — 2 1985 92 56 15 — 13 5 1 2 1987 132 92 18 1 17 2 1 1 1988 147 87 25 1 24 6 2 2 1989 119 59 15 4 30 7 2 2
§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders were(a) convicted of and (b) cautioned for indecent exposure in each of the past 10 years.
§ Mr. John PattenInformation for England and Wales from 1980 to 1989 on the number of offenders convicted and cautioned for the offence of indecent exposure is given in the table. This information is published annually in volumes 1, 2, and 4 of the "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, Supplementary Tables", copies of which are in the Library. Figures for 1990 are not yet available.
>Number of offenders convicted and cautioned for indecent exposure 1980–1989 England and Wales Year Convictions Cautions 1980 1,890 225 1981 1,613 248 1982 1,568 193 1983 1,433 203 1984 1,326 231 1985 1,229 259 1986 1,081 253 1987 1,030 281 1988 1,163 295 1989 1,054 277
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to record locally and nationally the number of homosexual assaults on male prisoners in United Kingdom jails.
§ Mrs. RumboldThe current prison service policy is that details of all assaults are recorded, including homosexual assaults. Investigations are made as appropriate, but the system at present does not allow for easy retrieval of information relating specifically to homosexual assaults.
The reporting of incidents by prison establishments in England and Wales is currently under review, as is the system for the storage and retrieval of information about incidents. It is envisaged that, following the review of incident reporting procedures, information about the more serious homosexual assaults, that is those involving a police investigation, will be more readily identifiable in the future.