The Ministry of Justice has today released statistics on the outcomes of suspects involved in the recent riots, showing that a much higher percentage of defendants were remanded in custody than usual.

The figures show that 1,566 suspects have had initial hearings at magistrates’ courts.

In cases where a defendant is on remand, 66% were remanded in custody. By comparison in 2010, only 10% of those brought before magistrates’ courts were remanded in custody.

Of those cases where the defendant has been convicted and sentenced, 45% received a custodial sentence, with an average sentence of five months. For equivalent offences in 2010, 12% of defendants were given prison sentences, with an average sentence of 2.5 months.

For those cases where the age of defendants is known, 22% (320) were aged 10-17 and 1,161 were adults, while 91% of defendants were male.