Yorkshire prison sentences getting shorter

Jail terms handed down by courts in some parts of the region have reduced by almost 20 per cent on average over the last five years, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics reveal.

Across England and Wales, one in seven rapists is sentenced to four years or less in jail – but the average prison term for rape is more than eight years, compared with about six years for manslaughter.

Overall, more than 101,500 offenders were jailed last year but almost 9.5 million crimes were committed, according to the British Crime Survey.

The number of offenders with 15 or more previous convictions or cautions rose by more than 78 per cent over the last decade to 96,710 last year, up from 54,242 in 2000.

Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly said: “These statistics show that the number of criminals committing multiple crimes has risen dramatically over the last decade. This is further evidence that we need urgent reform to tackle reoffending and so cut crime.

“The justice system must continue to properly punish the guilty and protect communities by locking up serious and dangerous criminals. But it also needs to address reoffending by putting in place demanding programmes of both punishment and reform.”

Crown Court defendants in the Humberside Police area could expect a sentence of more than 23 months on average in 2005 but the figure has dropped steadily since, reaching 20.7 months last year.

Sentences in the area’s magistrates’ courts have followed a similar trend, falling from 3.4 months in 2005 to 2.8 months in 2010.

In North Yorkshire, over the same period, average crown court sentences shortened from 25.4 months to 21 and magistrates’ court jail terms were reduced from 2.8 months to 2.3.

Average sentence lengths have also reduced in West and South Yorkshire, where the majority of the region’s criminals face justice.

Crown court sentences shortened on average from 25.9 to 23.4 months in South Yorkshire and from 27.1 to 25.8 months in West Yorkshire. Custodial terms imposed by magistrates have also reduced slightly.

The MoJ figures reveal that 984 rapists were jailed last year, but sentences varied significantly.

Thirteen were jailed for life and a further 180 were locked up indefinitely for the public’s protection, but 134 were given sentences of four years or less.

Blair Gibbs, head of the crime and justice unit at the Policy Exchange think tank, said discounts for guilty pleas meant the public had little idea how long prisoners actually served.

“The current sentencing regime with automatic discounts that allow most convicted offenders to leave prison after serving less than half of their sentence erodes public confidence and upsets victims,” he added.