§ Mr. Channonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will produce a table showing, in the last convenient 10-year period, how many prosecutions have been brought under Sections 35 and 36 of the Malicious Damage Act, 1861, Sections 32, 33 and 34 of the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861, and Sections 55 and 56 of the British Transport Commission Act, 1949, giving the figures separately for each section of each Act; how many convictions have been obtained; in how many cases under the earlier Acts offenders have been fined sums of less than £5 or more than £5; in how many cases under the earlier Acts have offenders been sentenced to terms of imprisonment for periods up to six months, for periods between six months and one year, for periods between one year and two years, and for periods over two years; and if he will give the lengths of the sentences in cases of imprisonment for more than two years.
§ Miss BaconThe following table gives the available information about offences under the Malicious Damage Act, 1861 and the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861. I regret that I have no information about the amounts of the fines imposed or about offences under Sections 55 and 56 of the British Transport Commission Act, 1949.
96W
SECTION 35 MALICIOUS DAMAGE ACT 1861 Year No. of persons prosecuted No. convicted No. fined No. sentenced to imprisonment 1954 … 23 17 3 — 1955 … 10 6 — 1* 1956 … 11 6 2 — 1957 … 16 15 2 — 1958 … 8 9 — — 1959 … 16 13 6 1† 1960 … 3 3 1 — 1961 … 18 15 1 — 1962 … 7 11 5 — 1963 … 13 12 2 — Length of sentence * Over 2 years and up to 3 years. † Over 3 years and up to 4 years.
SECTION 36 MALICIOUS DAMAGE ACT 1861 Year No. of persons prosecuted No. convicted No. fined No. sentenced to imprisonment 1954 … 33 32 15 1* 1955 … 19 20 5 — 1956 … 19 16 13 — 1957 … 46 43 15 4† 1958 … 55 48 27 — 1959 … 32 26 10 — 1960 … 27 24 9 2‡ 1961 … 58 56 24 — 1962 … 62 56 35 — 1963 … 50 54 28 — Length of sentence * Over 1 month and up to 3 months. † 2 over 12 months and under 18 months and 2 over 2 years and up to 3 years. ‡ 1 over 6 months and up to 9 months and 1 over 9 months and up to 12 months. Notes
1. Some of the figures for 1959 are approximate.
2. The figures for persons convicted include some persons prosecuted in the previous year.
97W
SECTION 32 OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT 1861 Year No. of persons prosecuted No. convicted No. fined No. sentenced to imprisonment 1954 … 13 5 2 — 1955 … — — — — 1956 … 8 7 3 — 1957 … 14 9 6 2* 1958 … 6 6 6 — 1959 … 19 18 6 — 1960 … 13 14 3 — 1961 … 9 10 2 2† 1962 … 13 13 7 — 1963 … 3 2 — — Length of sentence *1 over 6 months and up to 1 year and 1 over 2 years and up to 3 years. †1 over 6 months and up to 9 months and 1 over 9 months and up to 12 months.
SECTION 33 OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT 1861 Year No. of persons prosecuted No. convicted No. fined No. sentenced to imprisonment 1954 … 1 1 — — 1955 … 1 1 — — 1956 … 2 2 — — 1957 … 2 2 2 — 1958 … 16 14 — — 1959 … 6 5 2 — 1960 … 5 5 — — 1961 … — — — — 1962 … 13 10 5 — 1963 … 4 4 4 —
SECTION 34 OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT 1861 Year No. of persons prosecuted No. convicted No. fined No. sentenced to imprisonment 1954 … 15 12 6 — 1955 … 11 11 5 — 1956 … 27 26 2 — 1957 … 15 17 4 — 1958 … 18 17 14 — 1959 … 25 20 8 — 1960 … 29 30 15 — 1961 … 18 15 9 — 1962 … 39 31 22 — 1963 … 28 24 14 1* Length of sentence * Over 2 years and up to 3 years. Notes:
1. Some of the figures for 1959 are approximate.
2. The figures for persons convicted include some persons prosecuted in the previous year.