Women across West Yorkshire are being sentenced to 17 months less in prison than men who committed the same crime, new figures show.

Shipley MP Philip Davies, who revealed the figures through parliamentary questions, said this made a mockery of the criminal justice system and discriminated against men.

Mr Davies said: “A crime is a crime, regardless of gender, and should be treated that way.”

The average sentence for a woman in 2012 for any indictable offence – a crime so serious it must be dealt with at the Crown Court – was 31.6 months, compared to 48.7 months for men.

Mr Davies said: “Right here in West Yorkshire, we have further proof that women are treated more leniently than men in our justice system.”

The largest discrepancy was for those who had committed sexual offences. Women were handed an average sentence of 28 months, compared with 81 months for men.

Female robbers were given an average 28.4 months’ jail time in 2012, 11 months less than men sentenced for the same crime. Fraud for women carried an average sentence of 18 months, ten months less than men.

Across the county, 50 per cent of the women sentenced were given immediate jail sentences, compared with 75 per cent of men.