HC Deb 07 December 1993 vol 234 cc170-1W
Mr. Frank Field

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted for murder each year since the abolition of the death sentence; if he will present in tabular form the number of years' life sentence each of these individuals served before release, again classifying it by the year of conviction; and if he will also detail the number who are still serving their sentence again classified by year of conviction.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The number of people convicted of murder in England and Wales in each year 1965 to 1992 are tabulated below. Data on time served before release are not available in the precise form requested, but table 8.4 of "Prison statistics England and Wales 1991", Cm 2157 shows data for all life sentence prisoners received by Prison Service establishments. A copy is available in the Library of the House.

Persons convicted of murder in England and Wales 1965–1992
Year Numbers
1965 57
1966 72
1967 63
1968 74
1969 75
1970 97
1971 97
1972 79
1973 90
1974 112
1975 107
1976 104
1977 115
1978 105
1979 136
1980 169
1981 126
1982 184
1983 132
1984 156
Year Numbers
1985 173
1986 179
1987 166
1988 231
1989 189
1990 180
1991 201
1992 182

Source: Criminal Statistics, England and Wales.

Forward to