§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many defendants in Scotland are annually awarded bail; how many offend on bail; and how many do not offend whilst on bail. [1195]
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§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonDuring 1994, 35,780 bail orders were issued. In some cases a defendant may have more than one outstanding bail order. No information is available on the number of defendants who did, or did not subsequently offend while on bail although information is available on the number of offences of "offending while on bail" recorded by the police. In 1994, 25,766 such offences were recorded. As several counts of "offending while on bail" can relate to the breach of only one bail order, careful interpretation of this figure is required."