§ Hywel WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many convictions there were in each of the last three years for arson; and how many of these convictions were of repeat offenders; [171435]
(2) what the average sentence for arson was in each of the last three years. [171434]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 10 May 2004]:1,500 people were found guilty of arson in England and Wales in 2001 and 1,493 in 2002.
Of those found guilty of arson in 2001, 15 per cent. had a previous conviction for arson, the equivalent figure for 2002 was 10 per cent.1
The average custodial sentence length imposed for arson in 2001 was 28.5 months and in 2002, 27.9 months.
Statistics for 2003 will be published in the Autumn.
1Sentencing samples are based on four weeks of data, one week for each quarter of the year.