§ Mr. MichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (1) pursuant to his answer of 2 December,Official Report, columns 471–72, if he will set out the methodology which leads to the conclusion that around 120 of those convicted of class A offences in 1994 had two or more previous offences; [7918]
(2) pursuant to his answer of 2 December, Official Report, columns 471–72, if he will list the offences regarded as similar offences to class A drug trafficking offences. [7919]
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answer 6 December 1996]: The methodology involved creating a sample of third-time drug traffickers from the "Offenders Index", which contains criminal histories from 1963, and using a separate dataset on offenders dealt with for drug offences to establish which offences involved class A drugs where this was not known on the "Offenders Index". The offences included were those relating to the unlawful importation or exportation of a controlled drug, production or being concerned in production of a 149W controlled drug, supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug and having possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply.
The study did not provide estimates of the number of offenders convicted of a first or second offence, or a monthly breakdown. Of those convicted of a third or subsequent offence, 90 per cent. received a custodial sentence and the average sentence length was just over four years. The period of the study was October to December 1994.