HC Deb 12 February 1980 vol 978 cc604-14W
Mr. J. Enoch Powell

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the security statistics for the last quarter of 1979 are yet available.

Mr. Humphrey Atkins

Yes. I am also taking this opportunity to publish details of convictions obtained during the period July-December 1979.

Following is the information:

PART I
Statistics of Terrorists Activity
Yearly totals for 1971–78
Quarterly totals for the four quarters of 1979
Statistics for terrorist activity comprise the following:—
(i) Number of shooting incidents
(ii) Number of explosions
(iii) Number of bombs and devices neutralised
(iv) Weight of explosives in bombs and devices neutralised
(v) Number of malicious fires
(vi) Number of armed robberies and amount stolen
(vii) Number of deaths and injuries of RUC/RUC 'R' Army and civilians (including sectarian, interfactional and intra-factional assassinations)
PART II
Statistics of security Forces' Activity
Yearly totals for 1971–78
Quarterly totals for the four quarters of 1979
Statistics for security forces' activity comprise the following:—
(i) Number of houses searched
(ii) Number of weapons, pounds of explosives and rounds of ammunition found.
(iii) Number of people charged with serious security type offences: (murder attempted murder, explosives offences, firearms offences, armed robbery, and other offences relating to the security situation eg, arson, membership of illegal organisations etc)

Statistics on Security Part 1
Yearly Figures
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978(3)
Shooting Incidents … … … … 1,756 10,628 5,018 3,206 1,803 1,908 1,081 755
Explosions … … … … … … … 1,022 1,382 978 685 399 766 366 455
Bombs Neutralised … … … … … … 493 471 542 428 236 426 169 178
Weight of Explosives (in lbs) (1)
In explosions … … … … … … 10,972 47,462 47,472 46,435 13,753 17,596 2,839 5,343
Neutralised … … … … … … … 3,001 19,978 32,450 27,094 11,159 16,252 21,88 5,860.5
Armed Robberies … … … … … … 437 1,931 1,215 1,231 1,201 813 591 439
Amount Stolen £ … … … … … … 303,787 790,687 612,015 572,951 572,105 545,497 446,988 231,250
Malicious Fires (2) … … … … … … 587 636 248 453 432 269
Deaths: Civilians (2) … … … … … 115 322 171 166 216 245 69 50
Sectarian, interfactional and intra-factional assassinations shown in brackets) … … … … (122) (87) (95) (144) (121) (42) (14)
Deaths: Army/UDR … … … … … 48 129 66 35 20 29 39 21
Deaths: RUC/RUC 'R' … … … … … 11 17 13 15 11 23 14 10
Injuries: Civilians … … … … … … 1,838 3,813 1,812 1,680 2,044 2,162 1,027 548
Injuries: Army/UDR … … … … … 390 578 548 483 167 264 188 135
Injuries: RUC/RUC 'R' … … … … … 315 485 291 235 263 303 183 302
1979 Quarterly Figures
Jan-Mar 79 Apr-Jun 79 Jul-Sep 79 Oct-Dec 79
Shooting Incidents … … … … … 189 171 192 176
Explosions … … … … … … … 90 166 98 68
Bombs Neutralised … … … … … … 35 40 36 31
Weight of Explosives (in lbs) (1)
In explosions … … … … … … 2,015.5 2,613.75 3,617 3,384.5
Neutralised … … … … … … … 659.5 1,990 596.75 1,284.25
Armed Robberies … … … … … … 132 89 92 124
Amount Stolen £ … … … … … … 64,445 113,697 246,222 143,995
Malicious Fires (2) … … … … … … 58 53 145 59
Deaths: Civilians (2) … … … … … 8 10 15 18
(Sectarian, interfactional and intra-factional assassinations shown in brackets) … … … … (2) (6) (10) (16)
Deaths: Army/UDR … … … … … 3 13 21 11
Deaths: RUC/RUC 'R' … … … … … — 10 2 2
Injuries: Civilians … … … … … … 113 133 170 192
Injuries: Army/UDR … … … … … 22 34 60 37
Injuries: RUC/RUC 'R' … … … … … 49 37 44 35
(1) Estimates weight only
(2) Consolidated figures not available for earlier years
(3) These figures have been revised since they were published initially.
Statistics on Security Part II
Yearly Figures
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978
House searched (2) … … … … … 17,262 36,617 74,556 71,914 30,092 34,939 20,724 15,462
Finds: Firearms … … … … … … 717 1,264 1,595 1,260 825 837 590 400
Finds: Ammunitions (RDS) … … … … 157,944 183,410 187,399 14,202 73,604 70,306 52,091 43,512
Finds: Explosives (lbs) … … … … … 2,748 41,488 38,418 26,120 11,565 21,714 3,809 2,108
ICOS Made … … … … … … … — 75 512 312 11 0 0 0
1979 Quarterly Figures
Jan-Mar 79 Apr-Jun 79 Jul-Sep 79 Oct-Dec 79
Houses Searched (2) … … … … … 1,285 1,457 1,970 1,740
Finds: Fireams … … … … … … 95 79 74 53
Finds: Ammunitions (RDS) … … … … 8,419 13,194 18,897 5,770
Finds: Explosives (LBS) … … … … … 744.25 1,200.5 34.5 17
ICOS Made … … … … … … … 0 0 — 0
Persons charged with serious security type offences (1)
31 Jul-31 Dec 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 Jan-Mar 1979 Apr-Jun 1979 Jut-Sep 1979 Oct-Dec 1979
Murder … … … … … 13 71 75 138 120 131 60 11 16 9 9
Attempted Murder … … … 16 85 75 88 121 135 79 13 7 9 10
Firearms Offences … … … 242 631 544 460 353 301 225 49 42 43 43
Explosives Offences … … … 86 236 161 100 215 146 79 9 16 11 4
Theft Act … … … … … 111 186 232 314 188 203 151 42 39 52 27
Other … … … … … 63 205 275 97 279 392 249 63 36 65 45
TOTAL 531 1,414 1,362 1,197 1,276 1,308 843 187 156 189 138
(1) These figures are not available in consolidated form for earlier years.
(2) Includes occupied and unoccupied houses searched.

PERSONS CONVICTED AND SENTENCES IMPOSED AT BELFAST CROWN COURT—JULY TO DECEMBER 1979
Notes on the Tables:
1. The offence classifications are based on those used by the Crown and Peace Office in their annual return.
2. The tables relate to persons convicted at the Belfast Crown Court. This covers all scheduled offences tried on indictment.
3. Some jury trials are included in cases where the Attorney General certified out of the scheduled mode of trial, i.e. non-terrorist serious offences.
4. Where a person has been convicted of more than one offence only the most serious or that which received the longest sentence is recorded in the statistics.
Imprisonment
Offence July to December 1979 Number convicted Non custodial sentence Borstal or training centre Less than 5 years 5 years and less than 7 years 7 years and less than 10 years 10 years and less than 15 years 15 years and less than 20 years 20 years Life
Murder … … … … … … … 22 — — — — — — — — 22
Attempted murder … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Conspiracy to murder … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Manslaughter … … … … … … 8 — — 1 1 — 2 4 — —
Wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm … 12 1 4 1 — 3 3 — — —
Causing explosion … … … … … 8 2 — — 1 1 4 — — —
Placing explosives … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Possessing explosives with intent … … … 17 1 2 1 6 1 4 — 2 —
Causing grievous bodily harm … … … 3 2 — — — — 1 — — —
Assault occasioning grievous bodily harm … … 2 — — 2 — — — — — —
Possessing a firearm with intent … … … 16 — — 3 3 1 6 3 — —
Possessing a firearm … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Carrying a firearm with intent … … … 5 3 — — — 2 — — — —
Intimidation … … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Aggravated burglary … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Imprisonment
Offence July to December 1979 Number convicted Non custodial Sentence Borstal or training centre Less than 5 years 5 years and less than 7 years 7 years and less than 10 years 10 years and less than 15 years 15 years and less than 20 years 20 years and over Life
Robbery … … … … … … 85 19 22 20 13 9 2 — — —
Hi-jacking … … … … … … 16 8 4 4 — — — — — —
Arson … … … … … … … 19 10 4 5 — — — — — —
Malicious damage … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Other explosive offences … … … … 3 2 — — — — — — — —
Petrol bomb offences … … … … … 2 2 — — — — — — — —
Common law riot … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Escape offences … … … … … 2 — 1 1 — — — — — —
Assisting offenders … … … … … 3 2 — 1 — — — — — —
Other major firearms offences … … … 47 26 8 10 2 1 — — — —
Withholding information … … … … 5 4 — 1 — — — — — —
Possessing prohibited articles … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Minor firearms offences … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Membership of illegal organisations … … 34 28 3 2 1 — — — — —
Unlawful collection of information … … … 5 2 1 2 — — — — — —
Illegal training … … … … … … 1 — — — — — 1 — — —
Kidnapping and false imprisonment … … 6 1 2 2 1 — — — — —
Contributing to resources of a proscribed organisation … … … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Soliciting support for a proscribed organisation … — — — — — — — — — —
Possession of offensive weapons … … … 1 1 — — — — — — — —
Total … … … … … … 322 114 51 56 28 18 24 7 2 22