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Produced by the Sentencing Academy

Common Assault and Battery

Snapshot 4

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

by Annalena Wolcke

Published: 24 Jul 2025
Last updated: Jul 2025

Overview

  • Sentencing Council guideline range: discharge to a 26-weeks prison sentence
  • Maximum sentence: 6-months’ imprisonment
  • Aggravating factors: racially or religiously aggravated offence; offence committed against an emergency worker
  • Convictions decreased significantly from over 51,000 in 2015 to less than 17,000 in 2023
  • Convictions increased slightly in 2024
  • This snapshot summarises key trends over the past 5 years

Sentences Imposed

Figure 1: Sentences for Common Assault and Battery, 2020-2024

  • Over 40% of convictions resulted in a community order.1
  • A further 20% resulted in a fine.2

Figure 2: Sentences Imposed for Common Assault and Battery, 2020-2024

  • Trends in the use of principal sanctions for common assault and battery have been stable over the last 5 years.

Immediate Prison Sentence Lengths

Figure 3: Prison Sentence Lengths, Common Assault and Battery, 2020–2024

  • The most frequent sentence range is between 1 to 3 months, accounting for around 50% of all immediate custodial sentences.
  • Approximately 35% of prison sentences are over 3 months.

Sentencing Outcomes by Sex

Figure 4: Sentencing Outcomes by Sex, Common Assault and Battery, 2020-2024

  • Female (n=14,201); Male (n=76,633)
  • Between 2020-2024, the custody rate for common assault and battery was higher for men (18%) than for women (8%).

These 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: absolute discharges, and the category ‘otherwise dealt with’ ↩︎