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6.1 Eighty-seven per cent of persons called to court in 1999 were convicted of at least one charge, i.e. they had at least one charge proved against them or a plea of guilty accepted, resulting in a total of 127,400 convictions. Three per cent were acquitted on a "not guilty" verdict, and 1 per cent on a "not proven" verdict. The remaining 10 per cent either had their case deserted by the prosecution or a plea of "not guilty" accepted.
6.2 Information collected prior to 1988 indicates that "not guilty" pleas are more frequent for the more serious crimes such as homicide. Acquittal rates are also higher for these crimes. In 1999 for example, 18 per cent of those called to court for serious assault and 25 per cent of those called for sexual assault were acquitted following a "not guilty" or "not proven" verdict. By contrast, 93 per cent of persons called to court for motor vehicle offences were convicted in 1999, with only 1 per cent acquitted on a "not guilty" verdict and most of the remaining prosecutions either being deserted or having a plea of "not guilty" accepted.
6.3 Of the 4,800 persons acquitted in 1999, (3 per cent of all those called to court), 22 per cent received a "not proven" verdict — the same percentage as in 1998. The proportion of persons acquitted receiving a "not proven" verdict varied by type of crime. For example, it was higher than average for serious assault (31 per cent), crimes of indecency (33 per cent) and unlawful use of a vehicle (37 per cent), and lower than average for shoplifting (17 per cent), vandalism (11 per cent) and vehicle defect offences (10 per cent).
6.4 Chart 4 illustrates the trends between 1989 and 1999 in the number of convictions for a selection of crimes. It shows the substantial increase in the number of convictions for drug offences, the 52 per cent decrease in housebreaking convictions and the upturn in the last few years for shoplifting convictions. Also shown is the impact of recent legislation on carrying knives and on consuming alcohol in public places.
Chart 4: Number of Convictions for Selected Crimes, 1989-1999
7.1 In 1999, the overall number of convictions per 1,000 population fell to 54 for males and 8 for females, continuing the general downward trend recorded since the early 1990s. The number of convictions per 1,000 population has generally followed a downward trend except for all age groups except females aged under 21. The rates for this latter group in 1999 were either similar to or slightly above the rates prevailing in the previous ten years.
7.2 Males accounted for 87 per cent of all convictions in 1999; more males than females were convicted for almost all crime and offence categories. The main exception to this was "other" crimes of indecency, where females accounted for 82 per cent of what are mainly offences related to prostitution. The other categories where females formed a higher than average proportion of those convicted included shoplifting (28 per cent), "other theft" (21 per cent) and the "other" miscellaneous offences category (15 per cent). The latter category mainly relates to non-payment of a television licence. These three categories accounted for 13 per cent, 7 per cent and 7 per cent respectively of all convictions for females; the corresponding proportions for males were 5 per cent, 4 per cent and 6 per cent.
7.3 As a proportion of all convictions in 1999, convictions for non-sexual crimes of violence were highest for males aged under 21 (6 per cent). For males and females aged under 21, 27 per cent and 35 per cent respectively of convictions in 1999 were for crimes of dishonesty. Over two-thirds (68 per cent) of convictions for theft of a motor vehicle involved males aged under 21. Motor vehicle offences accounted for a much higher proportion of total convictions for those aged over 30 (51 per cent for males and 42 per cent for females) than they did for the under 21 age group (21 per cent for males and 13 per cent for females).
(An individual may be proceeded against on more than one occasion over the course of the year, and persons aged under 21 are more likely than older offenders to be convicted on a number of occasions, and hence to be counted more than once. Section 10 and Tables 15 and 16 provide information on the characteristics of individuals in each age group who were convicted in 1999.)
Financial penalties
8.1 Between 1989 and 1999, the use of fines, the most common penalty, fell both absolutely and as a proportion of all penalties imposed. This is, in part, a result of those offences most likely to be punished by fines increasingly being dealt with outside the court, for example by "fiscal fines". It also reflects the increased use of other disposals including community sentences. Fines were the main penalty imposed in 66 per cent of convictions in 1999, two percentage points down on the proportion in 1998 and 11 percentage points below the 77 per cent figure recorded for 1989. In 1999, a fine was the most frequent penalty imposed for motor vehicle offences (92 per cent) and for miscellaneous offences (57 per cent). Although less commonly used for crimes, a fine was still the main penalty in over half of convictions for "other" crimes of indecency (59 per cent), fraud (58 per cent), vandalism (58 per cent) and drug offences (63 per cent).
Chart 5: Index of penalties imposed, 1989-1999 (1989=100)
8.2 The average fine imposed by courts rose from £176 in 1998 to £182 in 1999, an increase of 3 per cent. Forty-nine per cent of convictions resulting in a fine being imposed in 1999 were for £100 or less, and 18 per cent were for £50 or less. This compared with 74 per cent and 44 per cent respectively in 1989.
8.3 Other financial penalties were used much less frequently. Compensation orders, used as a main penalty, totalled 1,200 in 1999. They were most often used in addition to another penalty, generally a fine. In 1999, a total of 5,500 compensation orders were imposed as either a main or secondary penalty. This was a decrease of 15 per cent compared with 1998 and 43 per cent below the number recorded in 1989. Compensation was ordered in 4.3 per cent of convictions in 1999 compared with 5.6 per cent in 1989. It was most frequently ordered in convictions for vandalism (51 per cent of such convictions). The average value of compensation order awarded was £248 in 1999, marginally higher than the average of £245 in 1998. Orders to find caution (where the offender is required to pledge a sum of money subject to their subsequent good behaviour) were very rarely used, accounting for only 42 main penalties in 1999.
Community sentences
8.4 The number of convictions resulting in a community service order in 1999 was 4,900, a decrease of 7 per cent on the total for 1998. Since April 1991, community service orders may only be imposed where otherwise the court intended to impose a custodial sentence. Probation with a requirement that the offender shall perform unpaid work is not so specifically targeted as an alternative to custody. Such disposals, which numbered 1,300 in 1999, are included within the figures given for probation in this bulletin. In 1999, the proportionate use of a community service order was highest for serious assault (17 per cent of convictions) and handling an offensive weapon (14 per cent). Thirty per cent of all convictions resulting in a community service order were for crimes of dishonesty.
8.5 The number of convictions which resulted in a probation order in 1999 increased by 3 per cent to 7,300, almost twice the number recorded in 1989. The proportion of convictions resulting in an offender being placed on probation was highest for fire-raising (29 per cent) followed by lewd and indecent behaviour (26 per cent) and "other violence" (19 per cent).
Custodial sentences
8.6 The number of convictions resulting in a custodial sentence in 1999 increased by 1 per cent to 16,100. This followed decreases of 4 per cent and 2 per cent in 1997 and 1998 respectively, and an average annual increase of 4 per cent a year between 1990 and 1996. As a proportion of all sentences, the use of custody has generally increased over the last 10 years, rising from 8 per cent in 1989 to 13 per cent in 1999. This upward trend was observed for most types of crime and offence, though as noted before this will in part be influenced by the increased use of alternatives to prosecution for the less serious cases.
8.7 Custody is the most frequently used penalty for crimes involving violence. Excluding homicide, the categories with the highest proportions of convictions resulting in a custodial sentence were robbery (70 per cent), sexual assault (61 per cent), housebreaking (51 per cent) and serious assault (46 per cent). The increased use of custody recorded since 1989 for other miscellaneous offences is the result of including breaches of probation and community service orders in the figures for this group (see Annex, note 6). Forty-two per cent of all custodial sentences were imposed on persons convicted for crimes of dishonesty in 1999 compared with 53 per cent in 1989.
8.8 The average length of determinate custodial sentences was 219 days in 1999, just below the 1998 figure of 220 days but 19 per cent higher than the 1989 average of 184 days. Over half (55 per cent) of all custodial sentences in 1999 were for 3 months or less; 82 per cent were for 6 months or less. The average length of determinate custodial sentences was over 7 months because of the effect of the relatively small number of long sentences. Crimes of violence were the most likely to attract long custodial sentences. Less than 2 per cent of custodial sentences for crimes of dishonesty were for over two years whereas the corresponding proportions for non-sexual crimes of violence and sexual assault were 27 per cent and 60 per cent respectively. In 1999, over half (56 per cent) of custodial sentences of over two years involved sentences of 4 years or more (including life sentences and indeterminate detention).
Other sentences
8.9 In 1999, admonition or the use of caution was the main penalty on 10 per cent of convictions, similar to the proportion in previous years. It was the most common outcome in convictions for the "other" violence category (37 per cent of convictions) and was also a relatively frequent outcome in convictions for "other" crimes of indecency (27 per cent), crimes against public justice (26 per cent) and breach of the peace (20 per cent).
8.10 The pattern of penalties imposed in 1999 varied with the age and gender of the offender; some of this variation reflects the different patterns of offending and conviction histories of different groups. While males accounted for 87 per cent of all convictions in 1999, they represented for 94 per cent of custodial convictions. Females accounted for 13 per cent of all convictions but for 25 per cent of admonitions and for 19 per cent of sentences of probation.
8.11 While the overall number of custodial sentences increased by 1 per cent in 1999, this trend was not replicated across all groups. There was a 21 per cent increase (to 282) in the number of convictions resulting in a custodial sentence for females aged under 21, and a 12 per cent increase (to 533) in the use of custody for females aged 21-30. For males, there was a 5 per cent rise (to 6,900) in the number of convictions resulting in a custodial sentence for the 21-30 year old age group, in contrast to a 1 per cent decrease (to 4,200) for those aged under 21 and a 5 per cent decrease (to 3,900) for those aged over 30.
8.12 In 1999, the number of convictions resulting in community service and/or probation increased by 5 per cent to 1,900 for females, with a 19 per cent increase (to 571) for the under 21 year old age group. The use of these types of sentence also increased by 5 per cent to 2,500 for males aged over 30, but decreased by around 5 per cent for younger males. For all those given community service, probation or custody, the proportion given custody fell from 63 per cent in 1989 to 57 per cent in 1999; this pattern was replicated for all male and female age groups. Most of the decline in this proportion occurred in the period 1989-1992, since when there has been little change, particularly for men.
8.13 Within the overall fall of 12 per cent in 1999 in the number of convictions leading to the offender being fined, there was a decrease of 11 per cent (to 73,000) in the number of males fined and a decrease of 17 per cent (to 9,900) in the number of females fined. Within the 6 per cent overall fall for other penalties, mainly admonition, the decrease for males was 5 per cent (to 11,900) and for females 8 per cent (to 3,600).
Chart 8: Custodial sentences as percentage of custody, community service order and probation order 1989-1999
9.1 Under the Bail etc. (Scotland) Act 1980, breaching the bail condition that no further offences would be committed while on bail was treated as an offence in its own right. Revisions made by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1995 changed this. Breaching this bail condition ceased to be a separate offence for those given bail after 31 March 1996. Instead the courts were enabled to treat the fact that an offence had been committed while the offender was on bail as an aggravating factor in sentencing and to increase the severity of the sentence imposed for the offence. The effect of this change on the court proceedings statistics is described at Annex note 13.
9.2 Of the 127,400 convictions in 1999, 9,200 (7 per cent) involved a bail aggravation, i.e. the offender was on a bail order issued after 31 March 1996 at the time of offending. In just over half (56 per cent) of these cases no additional sentence was imposed for the bail aggravation. A further 71 (0.06 per cent) of the persons convicted in 1999 had a charge under the Bail (Scotland) Act 1980. The proportion of convictions which involved either a bail aggravation or a charge proved under the 1980 Bail Act was highest for theft of a motor vehicle (22 per cent), robbery (20 per cent), theft by opening lockfast places (20 per cent), housebreaking (19 per cent) and shoplifting (19 per cent).
10.1 The preceding sections of the bulletin present information on persons proceeded against in court. In those statistics, each occasion on which a person is proceeded against is counted once, so that one individual offender may be counted on a number of occasions throughout the year. This section includes information on individual offenders convicted for any crime or for the offences of simple assault or breach of the peace (i.e. convictions for motor vehicle offences and most minor statutory and common law offences are excluded).
10.2 In 1999, there were 69,100 convictions for any crime, simple assault or breach of the peace. These involved 45,400 individual offenders who were convicted on at least one occasion, 10 per cent fewer than in 1998. Over half (51 per cent) of the convictions were accounted for by the 26 per cent of individuals who were convicted on more than one occasion. Those aged under 21 were the most likely to have been convicted more than once: 34 per cent compared with 27 per cent for the 21-30 age group and 18 per cent for the over 30 age group. For offenders aged under 21, the average number of relevant convictions per offender was 1.8 for males and 1.6 for females. For males this average reduced to 1.5 for those aged 21-30 and to 1.3 for those aged over 30; for females the average was 1.5 for those aged 21-30 and 0.8 for those aged over 30.
10.3 In 1999, the peak age for convictions was 18. The proportion of 18 year olds in the Scottish population who were convicted on at least one occasion for a crime, breach of the peace or simple assault was much higher for males (7.3 per cent) than females (1.3 per cent).
10.4 Of the 45,400 individuals who were convicted at least once in 1999 for a crime, simple assault or breach of the peace, 45 per cent had at most one other such conviction in the period 1989 to 1999 while 17 per cent had ten or more. This latter proportion was higher for males (18 per cent) than for females (10 per cent), and was highest for the 21-30 year old age group (25 per cent). (Compared with younger and older offenders, the 21-30 year old age group in 1999 will on average tend to have received more convictions over the period 1989-99, reflecting the peak ages for convictions being in the late teenage years and early twenties.)
10.5 Of the group of 45,400 individuals convicted at least once in 1999, over a fifth (21 per cent) had at least one conviction for a non-sexual crime of violence in the period 1989-99; 23 per cent had at least one drugs conviction; four per cent had more than 10 convictions resulting in a custodial sentence; and 17 per cent had been convicted at least once in a High Court or by a Sheriff sitting with a jury. Six per cent of the offenders had over ten convictions for a crime of dishonesty.
Chart 9: Individuals per 10,000 population with one or more charges proved in court in 1999 for a crime, or breach of the peace or simple assault
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