Immigration: Northern Ireland
(asked on )
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been convicted of an offence contrary to sections 35 or 37 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, where the person induced, threatened or received was a child in each of the last four years.
Our laws in these areas are robust and clear. The Government takes very seriously all matters relating to sexual abuse including the abuse of children. The proportion of offenders sentenced who were sentenced to immediate custody rose to 86% in 2012, compared to 58% in 2009.
The number of defendants found guilty of offences under sections 30 – 41 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, in England and Wales from 2008 to 2012 can be viewed in the table.
Court proceedings data for England and Wales for 2013 are planned for publication as part of the Criminal Justice Statistics publication in May 2014
It is not possible separately to identify the age of the victim from centrally held data or to give figures for each individual offence requested.
Defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences under Sections 30-41 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, England and Wales, 2008 to 2012 (1)(2)(3) | |||||
Outcome | 2008 (4) | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
Proceeded against | 46 | 44 | 62 | 42 | 44 |
Found guilty | 19 | 26 | 31 | 30 | 29 |
Conviction ratio (5) | 41% | 59% | 50% | 71% | 66% |
Sentenced | 19 | 26 | 29 | 31 | 28 |
of which | |||||
Immediate custody | 14 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 24 |
Suspended sentence | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Community sentence | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
Fine | - | - | - | - | - |
Conditional discharge | - | - | - | - | - |
Absolute discharge | - | - | - | - | - |
Otherwise dealt with (5) | - | 2 | 1 | - | - |
Custody rate (7) | 74% | 58% | 66% | 68% | 86% |
(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. | |||||
(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. | |||||
(3) The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown Court, may be sentenced in the following year. | |||||
(4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates' court for April, July and August 2008. | |||||
(5) Conviction ratio is calculated as the number of convictions as a proportion of the number of proceedings. | |||||
(6) The category Otherwise Dealt With (ODW) includes: one day in police cells; disqualification order; restraining order; confiscation order; travel restriction order; disqualification from driving; recommendation for deportation; and other miscellaneous disposals. | |||||
(7) The proportion of offenders sentenced who are sentenced to immediate custody. | |||||
Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. | |||||