Absconders (Hansard, 20 February 1989)

§ Mr. Sheerman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the police national computer holds details of(a) the names or (b) the crimes committed by persons serving in Her Majesty's prisons who have absconded.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
Information on the names of absconders may be held on the wanted missing persons file of the police national computer where, in the police's view, this information would be operationally useful.
In addition, an individual's record on the index of criminal names held on the PNC may be amended to indicate that he or she is an absconder, where the police consider that this would be operationally useful.
Details of an absconder's criminal convictions will be available on the convictions record of the PNC, if he or she 500W were first convicted of a recordable offence in 1981 or later. Broadly speaking, recordable offences are offences for which a term of imprisonment may be given.

§ Mr. Sheerman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will supply a list of offences for which prisoners who have currently absconded from Her Majesty's prisons were convicted.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
Information is not available in the form requested, and reliable information is not available for the period before 1981. Records of prisoners unlawfully at large on 31 December 1988 having, between 1 January 1981 and 31 December 1988, escaped or absconded from a prison in England or Wales (including prisoners who escaped from escort or failed to return from home leave or temporary release) embrace charges or convictions for all offences under the offence classification headings used in published prison statistics (eg, in table 1.7 of the 1987 volume, Cm. 547) except cruelty to children, gross indecency with children, theft of motor vehicle, in charge or driving under the influence of drink or drugs, drunkenness, vagrancy and courts martial prisoners. The records show the principal offence where the prisoners were charged with, or convicted of, more than one type of offence. In some cases, the offence is not recorded.