HC Deb 18 February 1987 vol 110 cc727-31W
Mr. McNamara

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the security statistics for the second half of 1986 are now available, together with details of persons charged with terrorist-type activities and convictions for scheduled offences for the year.

Mr. Scott

[pursuant to his reply, 16 February 1987, c. 463]: Yes. The statistics together with those since 1971 are as follows:

Statistics on security

  • Part 17—Statistics of Terrorist Activity
  • Yearly totals for 1971–1986
  • Statistics for terrorist activity comprise the following:

Statistics on Security Part I—Statistics of Terrorist Activity Yearly Figures: 1971–1986
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Shooting Incidents3 1,756 10,628 5,018 3,206 1,803 1,908 1,081 755 728
Explosions 1,022 1,382 978 685 399 766 366 455 422
Bombs Neutralised 493 471 542 428 236 426 169 178 142
Weight of explosives in lbs1
Explosions 10,972 47,462 47,472 46,435 13,753 17,596 2,839 5,343 11,181
Neutralised 3,001 19,978 32,450 27,094 11,159 16,252 2,188 5,860–5 4,530
Armed Robberies 437 1,931 1,215 1,231 1,201 813 591 442 434
Amount stolen 303,787 790,687 612,015 572,951 572,105 545,497 446,988 232,650 568,359
Malcious Fires23 — — 587 636 248 453 432 269 315
Deaths:
Civilian 115 322 171 166 216 245 69 50 51
Army/UDR 48 129 66 35 20 29 29 21 48
RUC/RUC ' R' 11 17 13 15 11 23 14 10 14
Injuries:
Civilian 1,838 3,813 1,812 1,680 2,044 2,162 1,027 548 557
Army/UDR 390 578 548 483 167 264 188 135 153
RUC/RUC 'R' 315 485 291 235 263 303 183 302 165
1 Estimated weight only
2 Consolidated figures not available for earlier years
3 No figure for April-June 1981
4 Figures in () refer to shots heard only and not included in the total

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Shooting Incidents4 642 815 (327) 382 (165) 290(134) 230(104) 196(41) 285 (107)
Explosions 280 398 219 266 193 148 172
Bombs neutralised 120 131 113 101 55 67 82
Weight of explosives in lbs1 9,059 9,261 11,199 6,923 8,545 11,711 11,309
Explosions neutalised 6,405 9,168 7,300 7,503 6,114 7,715 9,463
Armed robberies 412 587 580 622 627 459 724
Amount stolen (£) 496,825 854,929 1,392,202 830,258 701,903 655,690 1,207,152
Malicious Fires 3 2 275 536 499 528 840 740 906
Deaths:
Civilian 50 57 57 44 36 25 37
Army/UDR 16 23 28 15 19 6 12
RUC/RUC "R" 9 21 12 18 9 23 12
Injuries:
Civilian 530 878 328 280 513 468 773
Army/UDR 77 140 98 88 86 33 55
RUC/RUC "R" 194 332 99 142 267 415 622
1 Estimated weight only.
2 Consolidated figures not available for earlier years.
3 No figure for April-June 1981.
4 Figures in () refer to shots heard only and not included in the total.

  1. (i) Number of shooting incidents.
  2. (ii) Number of explosions.
  3. (iii) Number of bombs and devices neutralised.
  4. (iv) Weight of explosives in bombs and devices neutralised.
  5. (v) Number of armed robberies and amount stolen.
  6. (vi) Number of malicious fires.
  7. (vii) Number of deaths and injuries of RUC/ RUC'R', Army and civilians.

  • Part II—Statistics of Security Forces' Activity
  • Yearly totals for 1971–1986
  • Statistics for security forces' activity comprise the following:
    1. (i) Number of houses searched.
    2. (ii) Number of weapons, pounds of explosives and rounds of ammunition found.
    3. (iii) Number of people charged with terrorist type offences (murder, attempted murder, explosives offences, firearms offences, armed robbery and other offences relating to the security situation, e.g. arson, membership of illegal organisation, etc.).

  • Part III—Statistics of Persons Convicted of Scheduled Offences
  • Six monthly total for July-December 1986

Statistics on Security Part II—Statistics of Security Forces' Activity Yearly Figures: 1971–1986
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Houses Searched1 17,262 36,617 74,556 71,914 30,092 34,939 20,724 15,462 6.452
Finds
Firearms 717 1,264 1,595 1,260 825 837 590 400 301
Ammunition (rds) 157,944 183,410 187,399 147,202 73,604 70,306 52,091 43,512 46,280
Explosives 2,748 41,488 38,418 26,120 11,565 21,714 3,809 2,108 1,996

Persons Charged with terrorist type offences2
31 July 31 December 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Murder 13 71 11 138 120 131 60 45
Attempted Murder 16 85 76 88 121 135 79 39
Firearms Offences 242 631 545 460 353 301 225 177
Explosives Offences 86 236 161 100 215 146 79 40
Theft Act 111 186 239 314 188 203 151 159
Other 63 205 276 97 279 392 249 210
Total 531 1,414 1,374 1,197 1,276 1,308 843 670
1 Includes occupied and unoccupied houses searched.
2 These figures are not available in consolidated form for earlier years.

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Houses searched1 4,106 4,104 4,045 1,497 1,282 812 1,273
Finds
Firearms 203 409 317 200 197 238 215
Ammunition 28,078 47,127 41,452 32,451 17,211 13,748 29,061
Explosives 1,810 7,536 5,066 3,762 8,534 7,373 5,386
Persons charged with terrorist type offences2
Murder 63 48 50 75 41 24 12
Attempted murder 59 72 96 60 68 52 28
Firearms offences 112 155 173 150 155 105 128
Explosives offences 39 39 41 48 21 37 31
Theft Act 128 158 130 119 94 65 70
Other 149 446 196 161 149 239 386
Total 550 918 686 613 528 522 655

STATISTICS ON SECURITY (PART III)

July-December 1986

Notes on the tables:

  1. 1. The offence classifications are based on those used by the Crown and Peace Office in their annual return.
  2. 2. The tables relate to persons convicted at the Belfast Crown Court. This covers all scheduled offences tried on indictment.

Convictions for scheduled offences—1 July to 31 December 1986
Offence Number convicted Non-custodial sentence Young offenders centre training schools Less than 5 years 5 years and less than 7 years 7 years and less than 10 years 10 years and less than 20 years 15 years and less than 20 years 20 years and over Life
Murder 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
Attempted murder 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Conspiracy to murder 6 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 0
Manslaughter 7 0 2 0 1 4 0 0 0 0
Wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm 18 4 6 6 2 0 0 0 0 0
Causing grievous bodily harm Assault occasioning 6 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0
grievous bodily harm 4 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Causing explosion 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Possessing explosives with intent 12 4 0 1 0 1 5 0 1 0
Other explosives offences 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Possessing a firearm with intent 23 7 1 6 3 1 5 0 0 0
Possessing a firearm 7 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

3. Some jury trials are included in cases where the Attorney-General certified out of the scheduled mode of trial, ie non-terrorist serious offences.

4. Where a person had been convicted of more than one offence only the most serious or that which received the longest sentence is recorded in the statistics.

Offence Number convicted Non-custodial sentence Young offenders centre training schools Less than 5 years 5 years and less than 7 years 7 years and less than 10 years 10 years and less than 20 years 15 years and less than 20 years 20 years and over Life
Carrying a firearm with intent 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other major firearms offences 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Robbery 65 22 9 28 4 0 2 0 0 0
Unlawful collection of information 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Kidnapping and false imprisonment 7 1 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 0
Hijacking 14 7 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arson 27 4 10 12 1 0 0 0 0 0
Petrol bomb offences 30 9 12 9 0 0 0 0 0 0
Criminal damage 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Assisting offenders 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Intimidation 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Withholding information 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Common law riot 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 257 79 48 83 14 9 17 1 1 0

Note: 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.

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