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Produced by the Sentencing Academy

Intent to Supply (Class A Drug)

Snapshot 11

Bringing together relevant statistics and trends relating to sentencing

by Annalena Wolcke

Published: 24 Jul 2025
Last updated: Jul 2025

Overview

  • Sentencing Council guideline range: high level community order to a 16-year prison sentence1
  • Maximum sentence: life imprisonment
  • Convictions have almost doubled over the last 10 years, from under 6,000 in 2015 to over 10,000 in 2023
  • This snapshot summarises key trends over the past 5 years

Sentences Imposed

Figure 1: Sentences for Intent to Supply (Class A), 2020-2024

  • Over 70% of convictions resulted in a term of immediate imprisonment.2
  • A further 25% resulted in a suspended sentence order.3

Figure 2: Sentences Imposed for Intent to Supply (Class A), 2020-2024

  • The proportion of immediate custodial sentences slightly decreased over the last 5 years.
  • The proportion of suspended sentence orders slightly increased.

Immediate Prison Sentence Lengths

Figure 3: Prison Sentence Lengths, Intent to Supply (Class A), 2020–2024

  • The most frequent sentence range is between 2 to 4 years, accounting for almost 60% of all immediate custodial sentences.
  • Around 30% of prison sentences are over 4 years.

Sentencing Outcomes by Sex

Figure 4: Sentencing Outcomes by Sex, Intent to Supply (Class A), 2020-2024

  • Female (n=3,049); Male (n=39,735)
  • Between 2020-2024, the custody rate for intent to supply a class A drug was higher for men (73%) than for women (41%).

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. Formal offence name: Production, supply and possession with intent to supply a controlled drug – Class A ↩︎
  2. 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 ↩︎
  3. ‘Other sanctions’ include: discharges, fine, and the category ‘otherwise dealt with’ ↩︎