Short custodial disposals from court and the prison population

Of around 5,000 people receiving custodial sentences of less than 12 months in 2023:

• 41% were already in prison in the remand population and moved into the sentenced population at the time of their new sentence.
• 31% were already in prison having been sentenced for a previous offence remained there at the time of their new sentence.
• 19% arrived in prison from the community at the time of their sentence.
• 7% were released to the community from the remand population (likely because they had already served the length of their sentence whilst on remand) at the time of their sentence.

Of the 5,000 people receiving short custodial sentences, around 25% received more than one short sentence throughout the year.

The offending background of the 5,000 people receiving custodial sentences of less than 12 months from court is varied and complex. This cohort includes people who have been sentenced for previous offences, have spent time on remand and people who have outstanding offences which have yet to be tried. The effect of these factors is that people may not simply be serving short sentences in isolation, and that other considerations such as time spent on remand and other existing sentences complicate this picture.