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Produced by the Sentencing Academy

Snapshot 4

Common Assault and Battery

Bringing together relevant statistics and trends relating to sentencing

by Annalena Wolcke

Last updated: Aug 2026

Overview

  • Sentencing Council guideline range: discharge to a 26-weeks prison sentence
  • Maximum sentence: 6-months’ imprisonment
  • Aggravating factor: racially or religiously aggravated offence
  • Convictions decreased significantly from over 51,000 in 2015 to less than 19,000 in 2025
  • Convictions in 2025: 18,617
  • This snapshot summarises key trends over the past 5 years

Sentences Imposed

Figure 1: Sentences for Common Assault and Battery, 2021-2025

  • Almost 40% of convictions resulted in a Community Order.1
  • A further 20% resulted in a fine.2

Figure 2: Trends over Time for Common Assault and Battery, 2021-2025

  • Between 2021 and 2025, immediate custodial sentences for common assault and battery increased by 20%.
  • Suspended Sentence Orders decreased by 25%, and Community Orders decreased by 14%.

Immediate Prison Sentence Lengths

Figure 3: Prison Sentence Lengths, Common Assault and Battery, 2025

  • The most frequent sentence range is between 1 to 3 months, accounting for over 70% of all immediate custodial sentences.
  • 28% of prison sentences are over 3 months.

Sentencing Outcomes by Sex

Figure 4: Common Assault and Battery, 2025

  • Female (n=3,168); Male (n=14,494)
  • In 2025, the custody rate for common assault and battery was higher for men (20%) than for women (9%).

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 [email protected]

  1. Data calculated from Ministry of Justice (2026), Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: December 2025, published 30th of April. Outcomes by offence data tool, Table 2. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly-december-2025. ↩︎
  2. ‘Other sanctions’ include: absolute discharges, and the category ‘otherwise dealt with’ ↩︎