Order for Lifelong Restriction and custodial sentences: FOI release

Information requested

1. How many offenders have been given an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) since its first use in 2008?

2. To date, how many offenders have been given a custodial sentence length for the punishment part of four years or less?

3. To date, how many offenders have been given a custodial sentence length for the punishment part of two years or less?

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have all of the information you have requested. Specifically, the most recent publication of Criminal Proceedings in Scotland is for the 2021-22 financial year and only covers sentences given up to the end of March 2022. We are therefore unable to provide data for 2022-23 or the partial year of 2023-24.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have all the information you have requested.

The available data are provided in the table below. Note that data for question 1 come directly from Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2021-22, whereas data for questions 2 and 3 are derived from experimental statistics published alongside Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2021-22. These represent separate data sets drawn from distinct data sources and direct comparisons should therefore be avoided. In particular, the year in which an OLR is recorded can differ between these two sources. More details on the differences between these data sets are covered as part of the Experimental Statistics on the Length of the Punishment Part of Life Sentences and OLRs.

Table: People given a sentence of an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR), 2008-09 to 2021-22.

	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
People convicted where main penalty was an OLR(1)	1	9	13	10	17	17	20
People given an OLR with a punishment part of four years or less(2,3)	3	11	10	12	14	9	3
People given an OLR with a punishment part of two years or less(2)	2	6	5	6	4	2	1
	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21(4)	2021-22(4)
People convicted where main penalty was an OLR(1)	10	9	13	15	14	16	17
People given an OLR with a punishment part of four years or less(2,3)	5	5	7	2	5	4	4
People given an OLR with a punishment part of two years or less(2)	-	1	2	-	-	-	1

1. Data from Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2021-22 national statistics.

2. Data from Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2021-22 experimental statistics.

3. Includes sentences with a punishment part of two years or less.

4. Data for 2020-21 and 2021-22 were affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures, reduced court capacities and delayed cases where key participants tested positive for COVID-19. Volumes for these years should be treated with caution and not considered indicative of longer term trends.

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