§ Lord Bethellasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many persons were convicted of a terrorist offence as a result of being apprehended at a port of entry into or out of the United Kingdom during each of the years 1981–84 and how many persons were convicted of terrorist-related offences overall in each of these years.
§ Lord GlenarthurThe information requested is not available. However, information is published in 783WA quarterly statistical bulletins on those detained in Great Britain under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974, 1976 and 1984, distinguishing detentions at a port or airport from those elsewhere. Information on those charged with criminal offences following all such detentions is shown in Tables 6 and 7 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin No. 1/85, but provision of separate figures for detentions at a port or airport would involve disproportionate cost. Corresponding records for Northern Ireland are not maintained in a way that would allow detentions at ports of entry, and convictions for terrorist-related offences resulting from those detentions to be separately identified. Some relevant information is included in quarterly bulletins on the operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Acts issued by the Northern Ireland Office, and the total number of convictions in Northern Ireland for terrorist-related offences are given in the table below. Also, for England and Wales, homicides attributable to acts of terrorism are identified; in the period 1981 to 1984 there were 27 such homicides, for four of which four persons were subsequently convicted: a further three persons were convicted of other offences related to these incidents of homicide.
Convictions for offences specified in Schedule 4 to the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1978.
Northern Ireland Number of persons 1981 1982 1983 1984 557 709 550 464 (1) It is important to note that a person may have been convicted of more than one offence on the same occasion although only one conviction is counted here.