§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons found guilty of perjury since 1979 served custodial sentences in an open prison; and what percentage this represents of the total. [10010]
§ Ms QuinThe information available centrally combines the offences of perjury, libel and perverting the course of justice. Information for 1991 to 1996 is contained in the table. From court proceedings statistics for the years 1991 to 1995, it is known that around one in nine of these offenders will have served sentences for perjury. It is not possible to provide the information in this form prior to 1991 as information held centrally before that date combined perjury with a much larger group of offences.
align="center">Prisoners released from open prisons having served a custodial sentence for perjury, libel, or perverting the course of justice year Number of discharges Percentage of all discharges from open prisons Percentage of all discharges from all prisons Percentage of all discharges for perjury, libel, and perverting the course of justice 1991 40 0.5 0.1 30.5 1992 66 1.0 0.2 34.7 1993 59 0.7 0.1 26.1 1994 76 1.0 0.1 24.5 1995 102 1.1 0.2 21.2 1996 156 1.4 0.2 27.8
§ Mr. PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the average length of time spent in prison by prisoners who were released in each year since 1992 having served a custodial sentence for perjury. [10009]
§ Ms QuinThe information available centrally combines the offences of perjury, libel and perverting the course of justice. The available information is contained in the table.
In the information held centrally about prisoners, the offence of perjury cannot be separately distinguished from among this group of offences. From court proceedings statistics for the years 1992 to 1995, it is known that around one in nine offenders given custodial sentences for perjury, libel or perverting the course of justice were guilty of the offence of perjury.
571W
Average length of time served for prisoners released, having served a custodial sentence for perjury, libel, or perverting the course of justice. Average time served (months) 1992 3.7 1993 4.3 1994 3.8 1995 3.5 1996 3.6