§ Sir Alastair GoodladTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those people convicted of crimes in England and Wales in(a) 1998 and (b) each of the previous two years had previously been admitted to National Health Service mental illness hospitals and units with a main diagnosis of schizophrenia psychoses. [72290]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe information requested is not available centrally. National Statistics about convicted offenders do not categorise in terms of the past mental and psychological problems of offenders.
Information is available on offenders who are admitted to hospital under the provisions of mental health legislation. In 1997, the number of mentally disordered offenders admitted to hospital under a court order, or by direction of the Home Secretary restricting their discharge, was 1,074. Most of these admissions related to patients with a diagnosis of mental illness or mental illness with another disorder (986 in total). Schizophrenia psychosis is a form of mental illness, but the statistics do not record diagnoses to this level of detail.
Reconviction rates for restricted patients are available. The reconviction rate for standard list offences within two years of discharge for patients discharged between 1977 and 1993 was 12 per cent., with the rate for those with a diagnosis of mental illness being 7 per cent. Standard list offences consist of all indictable offences and some of the more serious summary offences.