HC Deb 24 April 1978 vol 948 cc488-92W
Mr. Powell

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to publish the quarterly statistics relating to terrorist offences and the actions of the security forces in Northern Ireland for the first quarter of 1978.

Mr. Mason

Following is the information:

STATISTICS ON SECURITY

PART I—Statistics of Terrorist Activity

Yearly totals for 1971–1977

Quarterly total for first quarter of 1978.

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 devices neutralised
  5. (v) Number of malicious fires
  6. (vi) Number of armed robberies and amounts 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 1971–1977

Quarterly total for first quarter of 1978.

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 organisations, etc.).

STATISTICS ON SECURITY
PART I
Yearly figures 1978 quarterly figures
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 January-March
Shooting incidents … … … … … … 1,756 10,628 5,018 3,206 1,803 1,908 1,081 235
Explosions … … … … … … … 1,022 1,382 978 685 399 766 366 127
Bomb neutralised … … … … … … 493 471 542 428 236 426 169 56
Weight of explosives (in lbs.):*
In explosions … … … … … … 10,972 47,472 47,472 46,435 13,753 17,596 2,839 641
Neutralised … … … … … … 3,001 19,978 32,450 27,094 11,159 16,252 2,188 1,268.5
Armed robberies … … … … … … 437 1,931 1,215 1,231 1,201 813‡ 591 148
Amount stolen … … … … … … £303,787 £790,687 £612,015 £572,951 £572,105 £545,497 £446,988 £56,507
Malicious fires† … … … … … … — — 587 636 248 453 432 62
Deaths:
Civilians† (Sectarian and inter-factional assinations† shown in brackets). 115 322 171 166 216 245 69 20
— (122) (87) (95) (144) (121) (42) (3)
Army/UDR … … … … … … 48 129 66 35 20 29 29 8
RUC/RUC'R' … … … … … … 11 17 13 15 11 23 14 2
Injuries:
Civilians … … … … … … 1,838 3,813 1,812 1,680 2,044 2,162 1,027 147
Army/UDR … … … … … … 390 578 548 483 167 264 188 41
RUC/RUC'R' … … … … … … 315 485 291 235 263 303 183 36
* Estimated weight only.
† Consolidated figures not available for earlier years.
‡ These totals have been revised.

PART II
Yearly figures 1978 quarterly figures
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 January-March
Houses searched† … … … … … … 17,262 36,617 74,556 74,914 30,002 34,919 20,724 5,987
Finds:
Firearms … … … … … … 717 1,264 1,595 1,260 825 837 590 111
Ammunition (rounds) … … … … 157,944 183,410 187,399 147,202 73,604 70,306 52,091 12,610
Explosives (lbs.) … … … … … 2,748 41,488 38,418 26,120 11,565 21,714 3,809 205.5
ICOS made … … … … … … … — 75 512 312 11 0 0 0
PERSONS CHARGED WITH SERIOUS SECURITY-TYPE OFFENCES*
31st July-31st December January-March
1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978
Murder … … … … … 13 71 75 138 120 131 14
Attempted Murder … … … 16 85 75 88 121 135 30
Firearms Offences … … … 242 631 544 460 353 301 67
Explosives Offences … … … 86 236 161 100 215 146 40
Theft Act … … … … 111 186 232 314 188 203 45
Other … … … … … 63 205 275 97 279 392 65
531 1,414 1,362 1,197 1,276 1,308 261
* These figures are not available in consolidated form for earlier years.
† Includes occupied and unoccupied houses searched.

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