Northern Ireland

Number of female inmates increases

The number of female prisoners held in Hydebank Wood has increased over the last 12-months.
The number of female prisoners held in Hydebank Wood has increased over the last 12-months. The number of female prisoners held in Hydebank Wood has increased over the last 12-months.

THE number of female prisoners - sentenced to short jail terms of three months or less - has doubled, the latest Department of Justice figures have shown.

The Northern Ireland Prison Population 2017/18 statistics take into account both the average daily prison population, which counts sentenced and remand prisoners as well as the number of 'receptions', inmates who present at prison on any particular day having been jailed by the courts.

While it found the overall number of men in jail fell by 2.2 per cent during the last year, from 1,439 in 2016/17 to 1,382 this year, the female prison population increased from 54 to 57.

Prisoners aged between 21 to 29 years of age continue to make up the largest proportion of the average daily prison population, 32.9 per cent, however this has been slowly falling.

By contrast prisoners between the age of 30 and 39 years has been increasing, from 26.2 per cent during 2014/15 to 31.5 per cent in the last year.

In terms of custodial sentence length, the number serving sentences greater than three months but less than 12 months has increased from a daily average of 264 last year to 286 during the 2017/18 period.

Violent offences continue to account for the largest proportion of lengthy jail terms with 'violence against the person' being the main or principle offence committed by 34.7 percent of inmates.

The number of remand prisoners stayed at a steady rate with around 2,700 prisoners in the last 12 months.

However, the biggest change was the number of female prisoners sentenced to a custodial term of six months or less around 69 per cent compared to men who sit at around 50 per cent.

The number of women sentenced to three months or less in custody doubled from 17 to 34 prisoners in the last 12-months, with the DOJ acknowledging this increase "as being significant".

Public order offences accounted for the largest proportion of men being jailed, while theft offences remain the primary reason for women.

The number of people jailed for drug offences fell from 11.6 to 8.8 per cent.