To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average custodial sentence was for people found guilty of (a) stalking and (b) harassment in 2012-13.
Answered on
24 October 2014
The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PHA) makes it a criminal offence for someone to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment (section 2) or causes someone to fear that violence will be used against them (section 4).
The PHA was amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 to insert two specific offences of stalking - sections 2A (stalking) and 4A (stalking involving fear of violence or serious alarm or distress).
The average custodial sentence for people found guilty of harassment and stalking in between 2009 and 2013 can be viewed in the table.