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Produced by the Sentencing Academy

Assault: Actual Bodily Harm

Snapshot 2

Bringing together relevant information, research findings and statistics relating to sentencing.

by Annalena Wolcke

Published: 23 Jul 2025
Last updated: Jul 2025

Overview

  • Sentencing Council guideline range: fine to a 4-year prison sentence
  • Maximum sentence: 5-years’ imprisonment (7 years if it is racially or religiously aggravated)
  • Convictions fell between 2015-2020, but have increased since
  • This snapshot summarises key trends over the past 5 years

Sentences Imposed

Figure 1: Sentences for Actual Bodily Harm, 2020-2024

  • Almost 40% of convictions resulted in a term of immediate imprisonment.1
  • A further 36% resulted in a suspended sentence order.2

Figure 2: Trends over Time for Actual Bodily Harm

  • Trends in the use of principal sanctions for actual bodily harm have been stable over the last 5 years.

Immediate Prison Sentence Lengths

Figure 3: Prison Sentence Lengths, Actual Bodily Harm, 2020–2024

  • The most frequent sentence range is between 1 to 2 years, accounting for almost 40% of all immediate custodial sentences.
  • Approximately 13% of prison sentences are over 2 years.

Sentencing Outcomes by Sex

Figure 4: Actual Bodily Harm, 2020-2024

  • Female (n=3,506); Male (n=30,435)
  • Between 2020-2024, the custody rate for assault occasioning actual bodily harm was higher for men (42%) than for women (15%).

These comparative rates do not account for various factors that influence sentencing decisions, such as the offender’s criminal history and the seriousness of the specific offence. Additional research would be needed to determine whether gender affected the sentence imposed.

This Snapshot is one of a series on sentencing trends in England & Wales. Others can be found here. For further information, contact Annalena Wolcke at a.wolcke@sentencingacademy.org.uk

  1. Data source for all figures: Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly December 2024, published 15th of May 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2024 ↩︎
  2. ‘Other sanctions’ include: compensation, discharges, and the category ‘otherwise dealt with’ ↩︎