Rapists now face longer in jail than those convicted of manslaughter, according to 2010 criminal justice statistics
The average sentence for rape is now more than eight years ? longer than the average prison term for manslaughter, according to Ministry of Justice figures published on Thursday.
The 2010 criminal justice statistics show that the average sentence for rape of a woman was just over 97 months, two months higher than the 2009 figure and significantly higher than the 78 months ? or six-and-a-half years ? that was typical in 1996 when the Conservatives were last in power.
But the figures show that 134 of the 984 rapists jailed last year in England and Wales were given sentences of four years or less. Only one got less than 12 months.
The justice ministry figures cast fresh light on the political row last week sparked by a clash between the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, and Gabrielle Browne, an attempted rape victim, over his plans to increase the maximum discount for an early guilty plea for all crimes from 33% to 50%.
Clarke denied claims that the average sentence was only five years, raising the prospect that under his plan rapists would serve just over a year. The average 97-month sentence for rape includes the current 33% maximum discount for those who plead guilty. Browne said after meeting Clarke this week that she had been persuaded by his sentencing discount plan as it would only apply if suspects pleaded guilty as early as possible.
The annual criminal justice bulletin shows that the average prison sentence in England and Wales for all offences is 13.7 months ? up by just over two months since 2000.
But this excludes the more punitive indeterminate sentences, including imprisonment for public protection and life, under which criminals are given no fixed release date. The number serving indeterminate sentences has risen by 900 in the past year. Robbers in particular are now getting longer sentences.
The figures also show a sharp decline in the use of cautions by the police in the past three years They peaked in 2007 at 363,000 and last year fell by 16% to 243,000. Justice ministry statisticians said the fall coincided with the scrapping of targets for the police for the number of offenders brought to justice.
The bulletin also shows a startling 28% fall in juveniles entering the criminal justice system. But justice ministry officials said the decline was probably more to do with a greater use of informal warnings and other unrecorded measures by the police than representing a real drop in juvenile crime.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/26/rape-sentence-average-eight-years-justice-figures
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