Scottish Government

2 Key Points

Court proceedings

• In 2004/05, an estimated total of 151,100 persons were proceeded against in court, an increase of 1 per cent on 2003/04. This was the fourth consecutive annual increase; however, the 2004/05 total was still 14 per cent below the figure of 175,500 recorded in 1995/96.

Verdicts

• In 2004/05, an estimated 89 per cent of persons proceeded against in court had at least one charge proved against them or a plea of guilty accepted, a total of 134,500 convictions.

Convictions

• Crime categories to show an increase in convictions between 2003/04 and 2004/05 included shoplifting (up 3 per cent), fire-raising (up 14 per cent), vandalism (up 5 per cent), handling an offensive weapon (up 20 per cent), drugs (up 3 per cent), common assault (up 10 per cent), breach of the peace (up 7 per cent) and speeding (up 6 per cent). Decreases included serious assault (down 7 per cent), robbery (down 12 per cent), housebreaking (down 5 per cent) and motor vehicle theft (down 13 per cent).
• Sheriff summary courts accounted for over three-fifths (61 per cent) of all persons convicted in 2004/05, with solemn courts accounting for a further 4 per cent. The number of persons convicted in 2004/05 in the district and stipendiary magistrates courts (47,700) represented an increase of 1 per cent compared with 2003/04 but was around two-thirds of the number convicted in 1995/96.

Sentences

• The total number of custodial sentences imposed by courts in 2004/05 was 16,500. Between 2003/04 and 2004/05, the number of custodial sentences for offenders aged under 21 decreased by 7 per cent (to 3,200) while the number for older offenders (aged over 21) increased by 2 per cent 13,300. Over eighty per cent of all custodial sentences were for six months or less; the average length of determinate custodial sentences in 2004/05 was just under seven months.
• In 2004/05, the total number of convictions resulting in a community sentence was 17,000, an increase of 9 per cent compared with 2003/04. These mainly comprised sentences of a probation order (9,400 including 1,100 sentences of probation with a requirement that the offender shall perform unpaid work) or a community service order (5,400). The average length of community service orders imposed in 2004/05 was 148 hours. Other community sentences available in 2004/05 included restriction of liberty orders (1,300 convictions) and drug treatment and testing orders (800 convictions).
• In 2004/05, 63 per cent of all convictions resulted in a fine or compensation order as the main penalty, compared with 71 per cent in 1995/96. The average amount of fine imposed in 2004/05 was £218 (excluding fines imposed upon companies). The average value of compensation order imposed was £287.
• In 2004/05, female offenders accounted for 16 per cent of all convictions, 8 per cent of custodial convictions and 26 per cent of admonishments.

Characteristics of individual offenders

• The peak age for conviction in 2004/05 was 18. Seven per cent of 18 year old males in the Scottish population were convicted for a crime or relevant offence (such as common assault or breach of the peace) on at least one occasion during 2004/05; the corresponding proportion for females was 1 per cent.
• Of the 49,300 individuals convicted at least once in 2004/05 for a crime or relevant offence (and for whom data were available), 65 per cent had at least one such previous conviction in the previous ten years; 13 per cent had over ten such previous convictions.

Motor vehicle offences

• The total number of motor vehicle offences recorded by the police in 2004/05 was 418,700, a decrease of 2 per cent on the total for 2003/04. Speeding offences accounted for half of all motor vehicle offences recorded by the police in 2004/05.
• In 2004/05 the police made 280,900 conditional offers of a fixed penalty, an increase of 22 per cent compared with 2003. Sixty-nine per cent of the offers in 2004/05 related to speeding offences. Just under 11,000 conditional offers were made in respect of the offence introduced in December 2003 of driving while using a mobile telephone.
• Of those speeding offences for which a police conditional offer was made in 2004/05, 83 per cent were detected automatically. The corresponding proportion in 1995 was 22 per cent.
• The number of motor vehicle offences which resulted in a charge proved in court in 2004/05 was 72,000, a decrease of 8 per cent compared with 2003/04.
• For an estimated 80 per cent of offences proceeded against in 2004/05, the charge was proved or accepted. A fine was the most common penalty, imposed for 79 per cent of charges proved or accepted. In addition to the main penalty imposed, 32 per cent of offences resulted in a disqualification from driving and a further 46 per cent in an endorsement of the offender's driving licence.
• The average fine imposed for motor vehicle offences with a charge proved in 2004/05 was £182. The average length of driving ban imposed was 20 months.
• A total of 106,000 fixed penalty notices were issued by the police for stationary vehicle offences in 2004/05, 69 per cent of which were for parking and waiting offences and 31 per cent for failing to display a road tax disk.
• The total number of penalty charge notices for parking infringements issued in 2004/05 by those councils which operated these civil penalty schemes was 513,700, a decrease of 9 per cent compared with 2003. Revenues from these notices and from vehicle removals totalled £14.4 million in 2004/05.
• In 2004/05, City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City accounted for the great majority of penalty charge notices issued, 44 per cent and 37 per cent of the total respectively.