HC Deb 30 January 1981 vol 997 cc527-8W
Mr. Wheeler

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the numbers of incidents in England and Wales in which firearms have been used by the police and show the numbers of deaths or injuries since 1970.

Mr. Mayhew

The number of incidents in England and Wales in which firearms have been used by the police since 1970 is as follows:

Year Number of incidents Deaths/Injuries
1970 Nil
1971 1 One injury
1972 2 One death and two injuries
1973*
1974 One death
1975 3 One injury
1976 Nil
1977 4 One death and one injury
1978 3 Two deaths
1979 3 One death
* Precise details are not available for these years

Applications for Special Vouchers received from United Kingdom passport holders by country
Number of applications
Country 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Kenya 1,589 1,934 1,157 672 711 624
Tanzania 317 639 665 270 240 287

Firearms have been used also on 208 occasions since 1970 to destroy animals.

The information for 1980 is not yet available.