Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2022-23

7. Custodial sentences

(Tables 7a-b, 8a-c, 9 and 10a-d)

Custodial sentences comprise convicted people who are sent to prison or a young offenders’ institution. The number of custodial sentences given is affected by a range of factors, including the number of convictions in any given year, the types of crimes for which people are being convicted and sentencing guidelines.

Courts will consider the full facts and circumstances of a case before deciding an appropriate sentence in a given case. This includes whether or not the offender has been convicted before and whether there are any mitigating circumstances. These statistics do not take into account the factors influencing the sentencing decisions.

High-level summary

Custodial sentences

(Tables 7a-b, 8a-c, 9 and 10a-d)

Custodial sentences comprise convicted people who are sent to prison or a young offenders’ institution.

In 2022-23, there were 8,923 custodial sentences issued. Of these:

• 8,093 were prison sentences (91%)
• 288 were young offenders institution sentences (3%)
• 320 were supervised release order sentences (4%)
• 200 were extended sentences (2%)
• 20 were Orders for life long restriction (<1%)

Custodial sentences are more likely to be issued for more serious crimes, for example:

• 98% of convictions for murder and culpable homicide and 96% of rape and attempted rape convictions resulted in a custodial sentence.
• Only 1% of road traffic offences convictions resulted in a custodial sentence

Year on year change (2021-22 to 2022-23)

• Between 2021-22 and 2022-23 all custodial sentences increased by 9% to 8,923
• Prison sentences increased by 7%
• Young offender institution sentences increased by 23%
• Supervised order sentences increased by 34%
• The number of custodial sentences issued for convictions of non-sexual violence rose by 15%
• The number of custodial sentences issued for convictions of sexual crimes rose by 5%

Change over the latest 10 years (2013-14 to 2022-23)

• Between 2013-14 and 2022-23 all custodial sentences decreased by 37%
• Prison sentences decreased by 35%
• Young offender institution sentences decreased by 77%
• Supervised order sentences increased by 12%
• The number of custodial sentences for non-sexual violence decreased by 18%
• The number of custodial sentences for sexual crimes increased by 24%
• Within that, custodial sentences for rape and attempted rape increased by 117%

Breakdown by gender

• In 2022-23 males accounted for 93% (8,323) of all custodial sentences. 72% of males received a custodial sentence of under 1 year, this compares to 88% of females who received a custodial sentence of under 1 year.

Key points to note

• The proportion of convictions resulting in a custodial sentence has remained fairly constant throughout the last ten years.
• A custodial sentence was the main penalty imposed on a convicted person in 13% of cases in 2022-23, This represents a decrease of one percentage point on 2021-22 (14%) and is identical to 2013-14 (13%).
• The average length of a custodial sentence, excluding life and indeterminate sentences, was 386 days in 2022-23. This is 3% longer than the 375 days seen in 2021-22 and 31% longer than the 295 days seen in 2013-14. The long-term trend of rising average custody length is likely driven by a complex range of interacting factors. These include a shift in the mix of the seriousness of court cases and a reduction in the use of shorter custodial sentences.

Chart 10. Long term declines in custodial sentences given are more pronounced for shorter sentences than longer sentences.

Custodial sentences given in Scottish criminal courts, by sentence length, 2013-14 to 2022-23.

Notes for Length of custodial sentences

Note 1. Murder carries a mandatory life sentence upon conviction. Although an Order for Lifelong Restriction is a sentence that lasts for the rest of a person’s life, it is not treated as a life sentence for the purpose of these statistics.

Note 2: life sentences and Orders for Lifelong Restriction (OLRs) are not included in calculations for average sentence length as they are of indeterminate duration. Although a minimum term in custody is specified, the actual time in custody will depend on decisions by the Parole Board and they may spend longer in custody than the minimum specified by the court. This reflects the expected operation of life sentences. Data on the average length of the punishment part of life sentences and OLRs are published in an experimental statistics paper alongside this bulletin, which can be found under the “Supporting documents” menu on the website for this publication.

Categories of custodial sentence length

Relevant provisions in the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 were commenced in February 2011 to introduce a presumption against short sentences (PASS) (three months or less).

In June 2019, the extension of the presumption to 12 months or less was approved by the Scottish Parliament in the Presumption Against Short Periods of Imprisonment (Scotland) Order 2019. This presumption stated that a court must not pass a sentence of imprisonment for a term of three months or less unless it considers that no other method of dealing with the person is appropriate. The extended presumption came into force on 4 July 2019 in relation to offences committed on that date and after. However, the policy was introduced part way through the financial year, and it took time for the first eligible offences to go to court, so the data included in the 2019-20 bulletin did not fully cover the extension. It was anticipated that some conclusions of the effects of this policy would be seen in the 2020-21 bulletin, however the impact of COVID-19 makes it difficult to separate the effects of the pandemic from the effects of the extended presumption against short custodial sentences. The Extended Presumption Against Short Sentences – Monitoring Information Official Statistics provided data on sentencing to monitor the progress of the extension policy which followed a bulletin covering the period 1 July 2019 to 31 December 2019.

Although initial effects of this policy may be seen to some extent in these statistics in the 2019-20 financial year, and the specific monitoring bulletins, subsequent versions of this bulletin will be able to come to more definitive conclusions. The Extended Presumption Against Short Sentences – Monitoring Information Official Statistics also provide data on sentencing to monitor the progress of the extension policy.

Chart 10 illustrates patterns of custodial sentence length by specific categories.

Custodial sentences for Sexual crimes

As shown in Chart 11, custody was the most frequently used disposal for Rape and attempted rape in 2022-23, being imposed on 96% of people with a charge proven. Custodial sentences for Rape and attempted rape attracted the second longest average custodial sentence of all crime types (after Murder and culpable homicide).

Chart 11. Murder and culpable homicide and Rape & attempted rape receive both the largest proportion of custodial sentences and the longest custodial sentences.

Notes for Chart 11

Note 1. Excludes crime types where the number of people sentenced to prison is fewer than 30.