Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of (i) men and (ii) women were refused bail and remanded in custody before conviction when the allegation related to (A) an offence against the person, (B) a public order offence, (C) a harassment offence and (D) a sexual offence in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mr Sam Gyimah

The Bail Act 1976 creates a presumption in favour of bail. The main reasons for refusing bail are that the defendant is accused of an imprisonable offence and the court is satisfied that there are substantial grounds for believing that the defendant, if released on bail, would abscond, commit further offences while on bail or interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice. In deciding whether or not to grant bail, the court will consider a number of factors, including: the nature and seriousness of the crime; the character of the defendant; his past criminal record; associations and ties with the community; the defendant’s record in regard to his previous commitments to bail conditions; and the strength of evidence against the defendant.

The number and proportion of offenders remanded in custody before conviction for violence against the person, public order offences, harassment or sexual offences, by gender, at magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales in 2015, can be viewed in the attached table.

Court proceedings data for 2016 will be published in due course.