Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average sentence length was in months for people who received an immediate custodial sentence and who had (a) no and (b) between (i) one and four, (ii) five and nine, (iii) 10 and 15, (iv) 16 and 25, (v) 26 and 50, (vi) 51 and 75, (vii) 76 and 100 and (viii) 101 or more previous convictions, and who were convicted of (A) violence against the person, (B) theft, (C) drug offences, (D) robbery, (E) common assault and battery, (F) burglary in a dwelling, (G) production, supply and possession with intent to supply a controlled drug - Class A, (H) possession of article with blade or point and (I) assaulting, resisting or obstructing a constable or designated officer in execution of duty in the last 10 years.

The information requested is provided in the table attached with this answer. The table includes data covering the period 2014 – 2023, on the average sentence length in months for people who received an immediate custodial sentence who were convicted of specified offences and an indication (by band) of their previous convictions.

This data is not regularly published or held in an easily accessible format. The information supplied has been sourced from a complicated retrieval from the Police National Computer database.

It should be noted that sentencing decisions in individual cases are for the independent judiciary.