Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: September 2024
Overview of trends in the use of out of court disposals, defendants prosecuted, offenders convicted, remand and sentencing decisions in England and Wales.
Applies to England and Wales
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This report presents key statistics on activity in the criminal justice system for England and Wales. It provides information up to the year ending September 2024 with accompanying commentary, analysis and presentation of longer-term trends.
Statistician’s comment
Alongside increasing police charge rates, the volume of prosecutions and convictions at criminal courts continued to increase. For the more serious indictable offences prosecutions and convictions reached their highest level since the year to September 2017.
This rise in convictions for more serious offences has increased the number of offenders being sentenced to immediate custody, while the volumes of those remanded in custody continued to rise.
For defendants sentenced to custody, the average custodial sentence length reduced slightly but remains high. The reduction in the latest period is largely due to the change in offence mix of offences sentenced to custody, with more theft offences, which attract lower custodial sentences generally.