Custodial sentence: what it means
A sentence that sends an offender to prison or a young offender institution. Most adults serve part of the sentence in custody and the rest on licence in the community.
A custodial sentence is a sentence of imprisonment (or detention for young people). Courts in England and Wales can impose immediate custody or a suspended sentence order, which is a prison sentence that is not served unless the offender breaches its conditions or reoffends. Most determinate sentences are served partly in prison and partly on licence in the community.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- Sentence length is not time served. Release points depend on the offence and the law in force at the time, so time in custody is usually shorter than the sentence announced in court.
- Immediate or suspended? Statistics on the "custody rate" usually count immediate custody only; check whether suspended sentences are included.
- Averages. The average custodial sentence length is published by the Ministry of Justice in its criminal justice statistics.
See what is the average prison sentence and where to find sentencing guidelines.
Also searched as: custodial sentence meaning, prison sentence, immediate custody, suspended sentence
Questions that use this term
- What is the average prison sentence in the UK?
- Where can I find the sentencing guidelines for an offence?
- What is the UK prison population?
Related terms
- Community order: A sentence served in the community, with one or more requirements such as unpaid work, a curfew or treatment, instead of prison.
- Remand: Holding a defendant in custody before trial or sentencing. People on remand are counted in the prison population even though they have not been sentenced.
- Proven reoffending rate: The share of offenders who commit another offence within a year that leads to a court conviction or caution. Published by the Ministry of Justice.
- Mean: The total of all values divided by how many there are. Often what people mean by 'average', it can be pulled up or down by a few extreme values.
More crime and justice terms: Police recorded crime · Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) · Clearance rate (crime outcomes and charge rate) · Proven reoffending rate · Remand · Prison operational capacity · Community order.