HC Deb 14 November 1977 vol 939 cc96-100W
Mr. Powell

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will now publish the most recent security statistics in the usual form.

Mr. Mason

The information is as follows:

Statistics on Security

Part I—Statistics of Terrorist Activity

Yearly totals for 1970–1976

Quarterly totals for first three quarters of 1977

Statistics for terrorist activity comprise the following:

  1. (i) Number of shooting incidents;
  2. (ii) Number of explosions;
  3. (iii) Number of bombs and devices neutralised;
  4. (iv) Weight of explosives in explosions and bombs neutralised;
  5. (v) Number of malicious fires;
  6. (vi) Number of armed robberies and amount stolen;
  7. (vii) Number of deaths and injuries of RUC/RUC 'R', Army/UDR and civilians (including sectarian and interfactional assassinations).

Part II—Statistics of Security Forces' Activity

Yearly totals for 1970–1976

Quarterly totals for first three quarters of 1977

Statistics for Security Forces' activity comprise the following:

  1. (i) Number of houses searched;
  2. (ii) Number of weapons, pounds of explosives, and rounds of ammunition found;
  3. (iii) Number of people charged with serious security-type offences: (murder, attempted murder, explosives offences, firearms offences, theft, and other offences related to the security situation, (arson, membership of illegal organizations, etc.).

STATISTICS ON SECURITY
PART I
Yearly figures 1977 Quarterly figures
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 January to March April to June July to September October to December
Shooting incidents 213 1,756 10,628 5,018 3,206 1,803 1,908 331 330 286
Explosions 153 1,022 1,382 978 685 399 766 123 104 33
Bombs neutralised 17 493 471 542 428 236 426 71 7 19
Weight of explosives (in lbs.)* In explosions 746 10,972 47,462 47,472 46,435 13,753 17,596 1,645 956 126
Neutralised 59 3,001 19,978 32,450 27,094 11,159 16,252 800 500 756
Malicious fires† 587 636 248 453 85 77 120
Armed robberies† 437 1,931 1,215 1,231 1,201 889 164‡ 108‡ 131
Amount stolen £303,787 £790,687 £612,015 £572,951 £572,105 £445,497 £43,546 £273,965 £60,668
Deaths: Civilians† 23 115 322 171 166 216 245 25 24 11
(Sectarian and inter-factional assassinations† shown in brackets) (122) (87) (95) (144) (121) (17) (14) (7)
Deaths: Army/UDR 0 48 129 66 35 20 29 8 9 8
Deaths: RUC/RUC 'R' 2 11 17 13 15 11 23 7 6 1
Injuries: Civilians† 1,838 3,813 1,812 1,680 2,044 2,162 306 351 229
Injuries: Army/UDR 620 390 578 548 483 167 264 52 53 27
Injuries: RUC/RUC 'R' 191 315 485 291 235 263 303 22 81 32
* Estimated weight only.
† Consolidated figures not available for earlier years.
‡ These totals have been revised.

PART II
Yearly figures 1977 Quarterly figures
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 January to March April to June July to September October to December
Houses searched* 3,107 17,262 36,617 74,556 74,914 30,002 34,919 5,481 5,976 5,063
Finds: Firearms 324 717 1,264 1,595 1,260 825 837 153 183 171
Finds: Ammunition (Rounds) 43,095 157,944 183,410 187,399 147,202 73,604 70,306 10,270 23,407 11,586
Finds: Explosives (lbs.) 798 2,748 41,488 38,418 26,120 11,565 21,714 1,268 1,952 374
ICOS made 75 512 312 11 0 0 0 0

PERSONS CHARGED WITH SERIOUS SECURITY-TYPE OFFENCES†
31st July to 31st December 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 January to March 1977 April to June 1977 July to September 1977 October to December 1977
Murder 13 71 75 138 120 17 40 52
Attempted Murder 16 85 75 88 211 41 33 42
Firearms Offences 242 631 544 460 353 71 98 70
Explosives Offences 86 236 161 100 215 32 44 33
Theft Act 111 186 232 314 188 42 51 58
Other 63 205 275 97 279 72 143 108
531 1,414 1,362 1,197 1,276 275 409 363
* Includes occupied and unoccupied houses searched.
† These figures are not available in consolidated form for earlier years.

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