§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Minister of State for Defence (1) how many members 201W of the security forces, and of which branch, have been charged with offences against civilians in Northern Ireland; what were the offences charged; how many have been convicted and for which offences; and what were the sentences imposed and for what offences for the longest convenient period;
(2) for the longest convenient period, how many members of the security forces convicted of offences against civvilians in Northern Ireland have been discharged from the security forces and which branch of the security forces; and how many convicted of such offences not discharged are still on active service in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. BlakerSince December 1970, six Royal Marines and 23 soldiers have been tried in civil courts for offences against civilians in Northern Ireland. Twenty-five were charged with assault of which 14 were convicted and four were charged with wounding, of whom one was convicted. Of those convicted, one was bound over, nine were fined, one was fined and awarded a suspended prison sentence and four were sentenced to imprisonment. One soldier was discharged prior to his trial and one soldier is being discharged as a result of his conviction. Those still in the Service will continue to serve with their units wherever they may be required. These figures include on-duty and off-duty offences committed by Regular Servicemen and on-duty offences by UDR personnel.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Minister of State for Defence how many households were entered and how many people arrested by the Army or other members of the security forces in Belfast on the evening of 28th–29th April last, and in which districts of Belfast.
§ Mr. BlakerBetween 6 p.m., 28th April, and 6 a.m., 29th April, the security forces searched two houses in New Lodge and eight in the Ardoyne. During the same period, four people were arrested in Ormeau, two in New Lodge, two in Andersontown and one in Bally-marcarrett.
In addition, following an ambush in which two soldiers were shot, a cordon and search operation was conducted in 202W the Lower Falls adjacent to Leeson Street. The security forces visited 200 occupied houses and 72 empty ones, in the course of which an Armalite magazine and 17 rounds of ammunition were found. Ninety-seven people were arrested for questioning; a significant amount of information was obtained about the incident and 96 of these people were subsequently released.