§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the(a) male and (b) female adult population has a criminal conviction; and if he will make a statement. [109921]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe exact information requested is not held centrally.
However, from studies of the criminal histories of persons born since 1953 it is estimated that 30 per cent. of males and 7 per cent. of females aged between 18 and 39 have at least one conviction for a standard list offence.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many young people were convicted(a) in each category of recorded crime and (b) in total in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [109915]
(2) what proportion of crime was committed by young offenders in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement; [109916]
(3) what was the average age of offenders in each category of crime and in total for the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement; [109917]
(4) what is the peak age of offending for (a) males and (b) females; and if he will make a statement. [109920]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe available information on offenders by age comes from the Home Office Cautions and Court Proceedings databases and is given in the tables.
Table B: Number and proportion of young people aged 10 to under 18 cautioned or convicted at all courts for indictable
offences, England and Wales, 1994–98
Thousand Offenders aged 10–17 Year All offenders [=100%] Number Percentage 1994 523.9 135.9 25.9 1995 504.8 132.9 26.3 1996 491.4 124.2 25.3 1997 509.4 120.1 23.6 1998 533.5 126.8 23.8 499W
Table C: Average age of offenders cautioned or convicted at all courts for indictable offences by offence group
, England and Wales, 1998
Type of offence Average age Violence against the person 26 Sexual offences 35 Burglary 21 Robbery 20 Theft and handling stolen goods 25 Fraud and forgery 29 Criminal damage 24 Drue offences 25
Table C: Average age of offenders cautioned or convicted at all courts for indictable offences by offence group,
England and Wales, 1998
Type of offence Average age Other (excluding motoring) 27 Motoring offences 29 Total 25 Note:
The average age cannot be calculated exactly from data in the Home Office Cautions and Court Proceedings databases.
Table D: Peak age of offending for indictable offences by sex, England and Wales, 1998 Sex Peak age Males 18 Females 15
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of convicted adult offenders were first convicted under the age of 21; and if he will make a statement. [109918]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeFrom a representative sample of adult offenders convicted during 1997, 54 per cent. had previously been convicted when they were under the age of 21.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average age of first time offending for(a) males and (b) females; and if he will make a statement. [109919]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeAn estimate of the average age for first time offending is not available.
However, results from the youth lifestyles survey, a self report study of persons aged 14 to 25 undertaken between November 1992 and January 1993, indicated that 55 per cent. of the males and 31 per cent. of the females questioned admitted committing at least one of 23 criminal offences at some time in their life. The same study indicated that the average age at which they started to offend was around 13.5 for both males and females.
Data on known offending in 1998—that is those who are cautioned by the police or found guilty by the court for indictable offences—show that the peak age for known offending was 18 for males and 15 for females.