February 23, 2005: New Sentencing Figures Published
Sentencing statistics for 2003 for England and Wales have just been published by the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate.
Key points include:
- A total of 1,489,827offenders were sentenced in 2003. This was the largest figure recorded in the last ten years, and an increase of 5% over 2002. The increase is though to be mainly accounted for by the rise in summary offences, particularly motoring offences.
- The total number sentenced for indictable offences fell by 0.8% to 333,930.
- A total of 1,413,764 offenders were sentenced at magistrates’ courts in 2003.
- A total of 76,063 offenders were sentenced at Crown Court in 2003.
- The total number of male offenders sentenced was 1,219,195.
- The total number of female offenders sentenced was 260,617.
- The total number of juveniles (aged 10–17) sentenced was 92,531.
- The total number of young adults (aged 18–20) sentenced was162,067.
- The total number of adults (aged 21 and over) sentenced was1,225,214.
- The total number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody increased by 83% from 1993 to 2003.
Overall, the number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody decre