Black individuals are significantly overrepresented in the UK prison system, comprising approximately 12–13% of the prison population as of 2020–2024, despite making up only about 3% of the total UK population.
Based on data from the UK Ministry of Justice and independent reviews, there is a significant over-representation of Black individuals in the criminal justice system compared to White individuals, particularly in the prison population, despite representing a smaller share of the general population.
Prison Population: As of 2024, White individuals accounted for approximately 71.8% of the prison population, while Black individuals accounted for roughly 12.1%. Considering that Black people make up approximately 4% of the general population in England and Wales, they are disproportionately represented in prison.
Youth Custody: The disparity is even more pronounced for young people. In 2020, 32% of children in prison were Black, despite Black people accounting for only 13% of the total prison population at that time.
Sentencing and Remand: Black defendants are more likely to be remanded in custody (49% in 2020, compared to 36% for White defendants). They also serve a higher proportion of their sentences in custody (67% in 2020) compared to White prisoners (60%).
Sentence Length: Since 2016, White defendants have consistently received shorter average custodial sentence lengths (ACSL) compared to other ethnic groups. In 2024, the average sentence for White defendants was 18.4 months, compared to 28.6 months for Black defendants.
Arrest Rates: In 2022/23, Black people were 2.2 times as likely to be arrested as White people (20.4 arrests for every 1,000 Black people, compared to 9.4 for every 1,000 White people).
Key Factors and Context
Offence Mix: A major factor in these statistics is the "offence mix," as Black defendants are more heavily represented in categories that carry higher custodial sentences, such as drug and weapon offences.
Drug Offences: Drug offences accounted for 36% of convictions for Black offenders in 2022, compared to 18% for White offenders.
Systemic Disparity: The 2017 Lammy Review and subsequent data indicate that, even when controlling for offence type, Black individuals are still more likely to receive custodial sentences compared to White individuals.
Guilty Pleas: White defendants have historically had higher guilty plea rates (79% in 2020) compared to Black defendants (66% in 2020), which often results in lighter sentences.
why not sort out south africa griffith? just because your family were too cowardly to stand up when the blacks took their land. are all the 'men' in your family racist cowards? at least the KKK act on their racism instead of hiding on message boards like you, donny and kwon. you even ran away from the UK. haha. zero fucking spine- then again the majority of the saffers I met in London talked a great fight but went over like skittles. worst 'fighters' I have ever seen.
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