§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Attorney-General how many cases have been referred by Doncaster police to the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last four years; how many have been prosecuted; and how many have been successful. [19643]
§ The Attorney-GeneralCases from the Doncaster police are dealt with by the South Yorkshire branch of the Crown Prosecution Service. That branch also deals with cases referred to it from other divisions of the South Yorkshire police force and, as statistics are kept on a branch basis only, it would not normally be possible to separate the figures for one police division from others serving the same branch. Exceptionally, I am able to provide figures for the last two calender years. Figures for the years 1992 and 1993 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The figures shown in the tables represent the number of cases received from the police and the number of defendants whose case proceeded to a hearing in magistrates courts and in the Crown court during the calendar years 1994 and 1995 and, of those, the proportion who were convicted. Convictions are inclusive of guilty pleas, as well as of contested hearings.
In the magistrates court, table 1 shows:
the number of defendants whose case was received by the CPS and the number whose case was finalised;of defendants finalised, the number whose case was referred to the CPS for pre-charge advice, and the number of other, non-criminal, proceedings—such as forfeiture proceedings under the Obscene Publications Acts;Table 2 shows:
defendants whose case was not proceeded with, divided into cases where the prosecution was dropped and cases which could not proceed and were written off—for example, because the defendant had died, or could not be traced.Table 3 shows:
707Wof those cases proceeded with, the number of: defendants bound over to keep the peace; defendants cases dealt with summarily by hearings in the magistrates court; defendants committed for trial to the Crown court; and defendants whose case was discharged at committal.Table 4 shows:
of the cases heard in the magistrates court, the number of defendants convicted and the number acquitted. The sum of the two figures exceeds the number shown in table 3 for cases proceeding to a hearing because in cases where a defendant enters mixed pleas—guilty to some charges and not guilty to others—and is subsequently acquitted on those charges to which he pleaded not guilty, the Crown Prosecution Service counts the result as both a conviction and an acquittal or two convictions when the not guilty plea is proved. The same case may, therefore, count amongst the figures for convictions and those for acquittals.In the Crown court, table 5 shows:
the number of defendants whose case was received and the number finalised. Of the number of defendants cases finalised, the number dealt with by way of appeal from the magistrates court or committed to the Crown court for sentence.Table 6 shows:
of defendants' cases not proceeded with, divided into those in which no evidence was offered before the jury was sworn—prosecution dropped—and those which could not proceed and were written off—for example, because the defendant had died, could not be traced by the police or had been found unfit to plead.
Table three: Proceeded with of which Bind over Per cent. Hearings in the Magistrates' Court Per cent. Committed to Crown Court Per cent. Committal discharged Per cent. 1994 166 2.1 5,595 70.8 726 9.2 17 0.2 1995 187 2.4 5,557 71.3 633 8.1 7 0.1
Outcome of which… Convicted Per cent. Acquitted Per cent. 1994 5,519 98.3 94 1.7 1995 5,462 98.1 104 1.9
Table five: Crown Court Receipts Finalised of which Appeals and committals for sentence Per cent. 1994 936 869 122 14.0 1995 780 878 131 14.9
Table six: Not proceeded with of which… Prosecution dropped Per cent. Written off Per cent. 1994 46 6.2 0 0.0 1995 78 10.4 0 0.0
Table seven: proceeded with of which… Bind over Per cent. Hearings Per cent. 1994 9 1.2 692 92.6 1995 27 3.6 642 85.9 708W
Table eight: outcome of which… Convicted Per cent. Acquitted Per cent. 1994 696 96.0 29 4.0 1995 636 95.6 29 4.4 Table 7 shows:
the number of defendants' cases proceeded with divided into the number bound over to keep the peace and the number heard in the Crown court.Table 8 shows:
of the defendants' cases heard in the Crown court, the number which resulted in convictions and the number of acquittals. The sum of these figures is greater than the figure shown in table 7 for cases proceeding to a hearing for the same reason as set out above for cases in the magistrates court.
Table one: Magistrates Court Case numbers Received Finalised Of which Pre-charge advice Per cent. Other proceedings Per cent. 1994 9,368 9,105 1,182 13 26 0.3 1995 8,360 8,384 523 6.2 63 0.8
Table two: Not proceeded with of which Prosecution dropped Per cent. Written off Per cent. 1994 1,003 12.7 390 4.9 1995 1,130 14.5 284 3.6