Last week (23 October 2025) the MoJ published the latest quarterly criminal justice statistics for the quarter ending 30 June 2025. The figures make it clear that the pressures on our failing court, probation and prison systems are only increasing. Headline findings include:
- A total of 1.58 million individuals were formally dealt with by the Criminal Justice System (CJS) in the year to June an increase of 6% on the previous 12 month period.
- Out of court disposals increased by 9% – there was a huge (16%) jump in the number of community resolutions.
- Prosecutions and convictions increased by 5% and 4%, respectively. Indeed, prosecutions for indictable offences increased 13% in the latest year and were 17% higher than in the year ending June 2019.
- The proportion and numbers of defendants remanded in custody also increased.
- The average custodial sentence length (ACSL) for all offence types reduced slightly to 19.5 months and to 21.5 for indictable offences. This was partly due to an increase in the proportion of sentences that were for theft offences, which attract shorter sentences and partly due to reductions in the average sentence lengths for a number of offence groups.
The publication includes a very helpful infographic summarising throughout through the CJS which I have reproduced below.
Crime figures
There were 6.59 million crimes recorded by the police in the latest year, a 1% decrease from the year ending June 2024. However, levels of police recorded crime have increased from 4.26 million in the year ending June 2015. Changes and improvements in police activity and recording practices are a major driver behind the increase in PRC since March 2014.
The proportion of recorded crimes that resulted in a charge has continued to increase in recent years, driving some of the increased flow into the courts. In the latest year, this increased slightly to 9% of recorded crimes resulting in a charge/summons.
Out of Court Disposals
There were around 220,000 OOCDs in the year ending June 2025, which was an overall increase of 9% when compared to the previous year. This was driven by an increase of 16% in community resolutions, with over 174,000 issued, the highest level across the time series. This is a 40% increase on 5 years ago with community resolutions now accounting for 79% of the total number of OOCDs.
There was a collective decrease of 5,700 across all other OOCDs when compared to year ending June 2024. Cannabis/khat warnings and penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) decreased by 77% and 29%, respectively, while cautions decreased by 7%.
Prosecutions and Convictions
In the year ending June 2025, there were 1.36 million defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts, an increase of 5% compared to the previous year. The increase in the latest year included a 13% increase in prosecutions for indictable offences and a 4% increase for summary offences.
Prosecutions increased across all offence groups, including a 21% increase for public order offences (up by 3,800), an 18% increase for criminal damage and arson (up by 500), and theft offences (up by 10,600).
In the year ending June 2025, 1.20 million offenders were convicted, 4% more than in the previous year. Convictions for indictable offences increased by 10%, from 204,300 to 225,000. This is largely due to an increase of over 9,000 convictions for theft offences. Convictions for summary offences showed a small increase of 3%.
The volume of convictions for all indictable offences are above levels seen in June 2019. However, convictions for both violence against the person and sexual offences have increased markedly over the same period, up 43% and 56% respectively.
Trends in convictions for indictable offences tend to lag prosecutions due to the time taken between completing proceedings in the magistrates’ court (counted as prosecutions) and cases completing at the Crown Court, where the number of outstanding cases is also at its highest ever level.
Remands
The number of defendants remanded in custody at the Crown Court increased; in the latest year, 53% of defendants were remanded in custody at the Crown Court, up from 52% in year ending June 2024.
In year ending June 2025, 1.36 million defendants were directed to appear at magistrates’ courts by the police or other prosecuting authorities. In most magistrates’ court cases the pre-court remand decision is either not applicable or unknown (81%). In the majority of magistrates’ courts cases no remand decision will be required because these will include Single Justice Procedure cases.
The proportion of defendants arrested and bailed or held in custody both increased slightly when compared to year ending June 2024.
At magistrates’ court, although the proportion remanded in custody showed little change on the previous year at 5%, the total volume of those remanded in custody is up 13% from last year and is the highest it has been in the previous decade.
At the Crown Court the volume of defendants remanded in custody increased by 6% to around 56,200 compared to the previous year (52,800) and is the highest across the last decade.
The proportion of defendants remanded in custody increased from 52% in year ending June 2024 to 53% in year ending June 2025, while bail has continued to decrease to 46%.
Defendants dealt with for indictable offences are more often remanded in custody for reasons such as the severity of offence, risk of further offending and likelihood of failing to appear at court. Of those remanded in custody at the Crown Court, 79% were sentenced to immediate custody or suspended custodial sentence – compared to 53% of those bailed.
Sentencing
There were 1.20 million offenders sentenced in the year ending June 2025, a 4% increase from the previous year. Most offenders (78%) were sentenced to a fine, with summary motoring offences accounting for 73% of all fines issued.
The number of offenders sentenced to immediate custody increased by 11% from the previous year, up to 83,700, the highest level it has been since year ending June 2019 (86,600). The number of offenders receiving a custodial sentence of less than 12 months increased by 12% – accounting for 59% of all custodial sentences. While those receiving a sentence of 12 months or more increased by 9%, accounting for 41% of all custodial sentences.
The custody rate for indictable offences remained similar to the previous year (33%) and is up more than five percentage points from a decade ago (28%). The highest custody rates in the year ending June 2025 were for robbery and sexual offences, at 57% and 54% respectively.
The overall ACSL was 19.5 months in the latest year, down 0.8 months from the previous year. The overall decrease in ACSL was driven by a reduction in 7 indictable offence groups, notably drug offences (down by 2 months). For indictable offences, the ACSL also dropped to 21.5 months, down 1 month compared to year ending June 2024.
Conclusion
Given the relentless rise in the number of indictable offences and the delay in many of these reaching Crown Court, it seems inevitable that next year’s figures will reveal even more demand at every stage of the CJS.
