§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has collated on the proportion of those convicted of car theft who have previous car theft convictions; and what assessment he has made of the consequences of those figures for future policy. [10670]
§ Mr. DenhamData held centrally do not distinguish car thefts from thefts of any type of motor vehicles.
An analysis of a sample of offenders sentenced for thefts of motor vehicles in 2000 reveals that 26 per cent. had one or more previous convictions for a similar offence.
§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the offending rate for car theft for(a) 14, (b) 15, (c) 16, and (d) 17-year-old (i) males and (ii) females in each of the last three years for which figures are available. [10669]
§ Mr. DenhamInformation for 1997, 1998 and 1999 taken from the Home Office's Cautions and Court Proceedings Databases showing the number of persons aged(a) 14, (b) 15, (c) 16 and (d) 17, broken down into (i) males and (ii) females, cautioned by the police or convicted at all courts for: (a) theft of a motor vehicle, (b) aggravated vehicle taking, (c) being carried knowing vehicle to have been taken or driven away, unauthorised taking and carrying away of a motor vehicle (Theft Act Section 12(1) as amended by the Section 37 Criminal Justice Act 1998), per 100,000 population for each age is given in the table.
Data for 2000 will be available later in the year. 731W
Offenders cautioned or convicted per 100,000 population by offence type, age and gender, England and Wales 1997–99 Offence type and gender 1997 1998 1999 Theft of a motor vehicle Males Age 14 57 52 59 Age 15 87 73 75 Age 16 86 79 82 Age 17 82 66 72 Females Age 14 3 2 3 Age 15 4 3 6 Age 16 5 5 5 Age 17 4 5 6 Aggravated vehicle taking Males Age 14 100 101 133 Age 15 193 206 224 Age 16 287 299 290 Age 17 346 319 327 Females Age 14 5 11 10 Age 15 18 18 21 Age 16 20 17 29 Age 17 17 22 21 Unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle1 Males Age 14 221 252 302 Age 15 379 420 431 Age 16 465 474 518 Age 17 445 433 472 Females Age 14 27 25 29 Age 15 41 43 52 Age 16 43 51 50 Age 17 35 41 41 Total Males Age 14 378 405 495 Age 15 659 621 730 Age 16 838 852 890 Age 17 872 818 870 Females Age 14 35 38 43 Age 15 63 65 79 Age 16 68 73 83 Age 17 57 73 68 1 Including offences of "being carried knowing vehicle to have been taken or driven away"