Drugs: Misuse

(asked on 15th October 2014) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many maximum custodial sentences were awarded for class (a) A, (b) B and (c) C drugs in the most recent year for which figures are available.


Answered by
Mike Penning Portrait
Mike Penning
This question was answered on 22nd October 2014

Drug offending is serious in itself and drug abuse also underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime which can blight communities.

Parliament sets the maximum penalty for an offence at a level to deal with the worst possible case. This means that there will, rightly, be few cases where the maximum sentence is imposed. The independent Sentencing Council issued a sentencing guideline on drug offences, effective from February 2012, which brought sentencing guidance together for the first time to help to ensure consistent and proportionate sentencing for all drug offences that come before courts.

The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody that were given the maximum sentence for class A, B and C drug offences at all courts in England and Wales for 2013 (the latest data available), can be viewed in the table.

Reticulating Splines