Nitrous Oxide: Crime
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) fines, (b) community punishments, (c) cautions and (d) custodial sentences have been administered for the illegal possession of nitrous oxide in England since November 2023.
Answered by Sarah Jones
The Home Office collects information on the number of notifiable offences, and their investigative outcomes, recorded by the police in England and Wales. This includes possession of nitrous oxide for wrongful inhalation and possession of nitrous oxide with intent to supply.
Information on the number of the Cautions, Community resolutions and Penalty Notices for Disorder for these offences issued between 1st November 2023 and 30th June 2025 are shown in the table below.
Outcomes | November 2023 to June 2025 |
Caution - adult and youths | 100 |
Community resolution | 3,265 |
Penalty Notices for Disorder | 23 |
Source: Home Office Data Hub, Police Recorded Crime and Outcomes
The Ministry of Justice publishes statistics on court sentencing outcomes including for the illegal possession of nitrous oxide in England and Wales. The latest published statistics for the period between 1st December 2023 and the 30th June 2025 are presented in the table below.
Sentence Outcome | December 2023 to June 2025 |
Fine | 139 |
Community Sentence | 20 |
Immediate Custody | 4 |
Suspended Sentence | 3 |
Source: Outcomes by Offences data tool, which can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics
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