Hansard - United Kingdom Parliament

95W
Written Answers
20 JUNE 2011
Written Answers
96W
guilty to some or all counts but offers a guilty plea to
alternatives which are accepted (providing no jury is
sworn in respect of the other counts).
Table 1: Youth defendants pleading guilty at first hearing in the
magistrates court, England and Wales, 1995 to 2010 1,2
Proportion of youth defendants
where initial guilty plea given (%)
1995 24
1996 26
1997 24
1998 28
1999 3,4 34
2000 5 37
2001 38
2002 37
2003 39
2004 41
2005 44
2006 44
2007 46
2008 55
2009 57
2010 56
1
From the June 2008 survey, the youth data is collected from the
four-week sample via a web-based method of collecting TIS data
called the One Performance Truth (OPT) (the pre-existing method of
youth data collection has been available up until March 2009). Using
this method has brought a number of improvements, including validation
of the data ‘live’ as it is entered, collection of data at court level rather
than clerkship level (as previously done).
2
A youth defendant is classified as being aged 10 to 17 on the date
when an offence was alleged to have been committed.
3
From 1995 to 1998 data were collected based on the number of
defendants appearing in either adult or youth courts. From 1999
onwards defendant details were collected specifically, therefore allowing
the identification of youth cases listed in adult courts as well as those
appearing in a youth court. As this may partly explain the increase in
the proportion of those pleading guilty at the first hearing, caution
should be applied when interpreting the figures shown in the table and
comparing them with subsequent years’ results.
4
From 1995 to 1998, the results are based on completed criminal
proceedings in one sample week in February, June and October. From
1999 onwards, information on youth defendants in all criminal completed
proceedings was collected in a four week period.
5
From the February 2000 survey, there is now one survey in each
quarter. The results are now based on March, June, September and
December surveys.
Source:
Time Intervals Survey (TIS)
Table 2: Number of cases 1 in the Crown court that ended in a guilty
plea, England and Wales, 1995 to 2010 2,3,4,5
Number of guilty plea cases
1995 49,900
1996 48,600
1997 53,500
1998 41,900
1999 37,900
2000 37,000
2001 6 36,700
2002 40,200
2003 41,900
2004 42,200
2005 41,600
2006 45,300
2007 50,700
2008 56,100
2009 61,900
Table 2: Number of cases 1 in the Crown court that ended in a guilty
plea, England and Wales, 1995 to 2010 2,3,4,5
Number of guilty plea cases
2010 65,800
1
Includes cases which can be heard in either a magistrates court or
the Crown court (a defendant can elect to be tried in the Crown court
or a magistrate can decide that a case is sufficiently serious that it
should be dealt with in the Crown court); and cases sent for trial by
the magistrates court because they can only be heard by the Crown
court.
2
The reporting period is defined by the date on which the defendants
involved were dealt with.
3
A guilty plea is recorded when a defendant: (i) pleads guilty to all
counts; (ii) pleads guilty to some counts and not guilty to others and
no jury is sworn in respect of the not guilty counts; and (iii) pleads not
guilty to some or all counts but offers a guilty plea to alternatives
which are accepted (providing no jury is sworn in respect of the other
counts).
4
A case is treated as a guilty plea only if pleas of guilty are recorded
in respect of all defendants involved.
5
The figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
6
Sent for trial cases under section 51 of the Crime and Disorder Act
1998 were introduced nationally on 15 January 2001.
Source:
HM Courts and Tribunals Service CREST system
Custody: Young People
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for
Justice (1) if he will initiate a review into the deaths in
custody of five adults aged between 18 and 21 in the
last four months; [60870]
(2) how many of the young adults who died in
custody in the last four months received full mental
health assessments while in custody; [60871]
(3) how many of the young adults who have died in
custody in the last four months were being handled
under the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork
care planning system prior to their deaths. [60873]
Mr Blunt: Every death in prison is a tragedy, and
affects families, staff and other prisoners deeply. Ministers
and the Ministry of Justice including the National
Offender Management Service are committed to learning
from such events in reducing the number of self-inflicted
deaths in prison custody.
All deaths in prison are subject to a police investigation
and an independent investigation by the prisons and
probation ombudsman, and a coroner’s inquest is held
before a jury. Until these investigations are complete I
am unable to comment on the detail of any of these cases.
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for
Justice whether he proposes any assessment of the
effects of mixing young adults in custody with the
adult prison population. [60872]
Mr Blunt: Young adults sentenced to detention in a
young offender institution (DYOI) are detained in young
offender institutions (YOIs) as required by section 98 of
the Powers of the Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.
These are normally self-contained but in some instances
are situated within an adult prison with which they
share the majority of their facilities. Whatever the location,
young adults detained in YOIs have separate sleeping
accommodation and are always managed in accordance
with the YOI rules. My officials are monitoring any
effects of co-locating young adults with the adult prison
population.