§ Mr. Bradfordasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many of the seven Maze prisoners who recently ended their hunger strike were tried in a non-jury type court;
268W(2) how many of all prisoners in the Maze prison convicted for terrorist offences were tried by non-jury type courts;
(3) how many prisoners in the "dirty protest" at the Maze prison were tried by non-jury type courts in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Alison[pursuant to his reply, 22 January 1981, c. 244]: There is no class of terrorist offences known to the courts or to the prison administration. However, all those convicted of scheduled offences under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978 were tried in courts without a jury. This includes all seven of the original hunger strikers. It would not be possible to establish without unjustified expenditure of time how many of those now or previously taking part in the dirty protest at Maze were so tried, but it would be the great majority.