HC Deb 09 November 1979 vol 973 cc324-32W
Mr. J. Enoch Powell

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether his quarterly security return now due is yet available.

Mr. Humphrey Atkins

Yes. In addition to the quarterly security statistics for the first three quarters of 1979, I am also taking this opportunity to publish details of convictions obtained during the period January-June 1979. Following is the information:

STATISTICS ON SECURITY
PART I—Statistics of Terrorist Activity
Yearly totals for 1971–78.
Quarterly totals for the first three quarters of 1979.
Statistics for terrorist activity comprise the following:—
(i) Number of shooting incidents.
(ii) Number of explosions.
(iii) Number of bombs and devices neutralised.
(vi) Weight of explosives in bombs and devices neutralised.
(v) Number of malicious fires.
(iv) Number of armed robberies and amount stolen.
(vii) Number of deaths and injuries of RUC/RUC "R" Army and civilians (including sectarian, interfactional and intra-factional assassinations).
PART II—Statistics of Security Forces' Activity
Yearly totals for 1971–78.
Quarterly totals for the first three quarters of 1979.
Statistics for Security Forces' Activity comprise the following:—
(i) Number of houses searched.
(ii) Number of weapons, pounds of explosives and rounds of ammunition found.
(iii) Number of people charged with serious security type offences: (murder, attempted murder, explosives offences, firearms offences, armed robbery, and other offences relating to the security situation e.g. arson, membership of illegal organisations etc.).
STATISTICS ON SECURITY—PART I
Yearly figures 1979 quarterly figures
January-March April-June July-September October-December
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1979 1979 1979
Shooting incidents 1,756 10,628 5,018 3,206 1,803 1,908 1,081 755 189 171 192
Explosions 1,022 1,382 978 685 399 766 366 455 90 166 98
Bombs neutralised 493 471 542 428 236 426 169 178 35 40 36
Weight of explosives (in lbs.)*
In explosions 10,972 47,462 47,472 46,435 13,753 17,596 2,839 5,443 2,015.5 2,613.75 3,167
Neutralised 3,001 19,978 32,450 27,094 11,159 16,252 2,188 5,860.5 659.5 1,990 596.75
Armed robberies 437 1,931 1,215 1,231 1,201 813 591 439 132 89 92
Amount stolen (£) 303,787 790,687 612,015 572,951 572,105 545,497 446,988 231,250 64,445 113,697 246 222
Malicious fires† — — 587 636 248 453 432 269 58 53 145
Deaths: Civilians (Sectarian, 115 322 171 166 216 245 69 50 8 10 15
interfactional and intrafactional assassinations shown in brackets)† — (122) (87) (95) (144) (121) (42) (14) (2) (6) (10)
Deaths: Army/UDR 48 129 66 35 20 29 29 21 3 13 21
Deaths: RUC/RUC "R" 11 17 13 15 11 23 14 10 — 10 2
Injuries: Civilians 1,838 3,813 1,812 1,680 2,044 2,162 1,027 548 113 133 170
Injuries: Army/UDR 390 578 548 483 167 264 188 117 22 34 60
Injuries: RUC/RUC "R" 315 485 291 235 263 303 183 274 51 30 43
* Estimated weight only.
† Consolidated figures not available for earlier years.

STATISTICS ON SECURITY—PART II
Yearly figures 1979 quarterly figures
January-March April-June July-September October-December
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1979 1979 1979
Houses searched† 17,262 36,617 74,556 71,914 30,092 34,939 20,724 15,462 1,285 1,457 1,970
Finds: Firearms 717 1,264 1,595 1,260 825 837 590 400 95 79 74
Finds: Ammunitions (rds.) 157,944 183,410 187,399 147,202 73,604 70,306 52,091 43,511 8,419 13,194 18,897
Finds: Explosives (lbs.) 2,748 41,488 38,418 26,120 11,565 21,714 3,809 2,108 744.25 1,200.5 34.5
ICOS made 75 512 312 11 0 0 0 0 0
PERSONS CHARGED WITH SERIOUS SECURITY TYPE OFFENCES*
31 July–31 December January-March April-June July-September October-December
1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1979 1979 1979
Murder 13 71 75 138 120 131 60 11 16 9
Attempted murder 16 85 75 88 121 135 79 13 7 9
Firearms offences 242 631 544 460 353 301 225 49 42 44
Explosives offences 86 236 161 100 215 146 79 9 16 11
Theft Act 111 186 232 314 188 203 151 42 39 52
Other 63 205 275 97 279 392 249 63 36 65
TOTAL 531 1,414 1,362 1,197 1,276 1,308 843 187 156 189
* These figures are not available in consolidated form for earlier years.
† Includes occupied and unoccupied houses searched.

PERSONS CONVICTED AND SENTENCES IMPOSED AT BELFAST CITY COMMISSION—JANUARY-JUNE 1979
January-June 1979
Offence Number convicted Non Custodial sentence Borstal or Training Centre Less than 5 years 5 years and less than 7 years 7 years and less than 10 years 10 years and less than 15 years 15 years and less than 20 years 20 years and over Life
Murder 37 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 36
Attempted murder 16 0 0 0 0 2 6 3 3 2
Conspiracy to murder 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
Manslaughter 19 2 0 4 1 0 9 0 1 2
Wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm 26 7 3 6 3 3 3 1 0 0
Causing explosion 31 1 0 2 3 4 16 5 0 0
Placing explosives 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Possessing explosives with intent 19 1 0 5 4 3 5 1 0 0
Causing grievous bodily harm 10 2 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 0
Assault occasioning grievous bodily harm 8 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Possessing a firearm with intent 37 7 0 9 5 10 6 0 0 0
Possessing a firearm 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Carrying a firearm with intent 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
Intimidation 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Aggravated burglary 6 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Robbery 112 36 23 25 10 9 8 1 0 0
Hi-jacking 21 12 0 3 2 1 0 3 0 0
Arson 24 14 4 3 1 2 0 0 0 0
Malicious damage 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other explosive offences 13 8 0 2 1 0 2 0 0 0
Petrol bomb offences 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Common law riot 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Escape offences 4 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
Assisting offenders 11 6 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other major firearms offences 35 18 0 15 1 0 1 0 0 0
Withholding information 5 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
Possessing prohibited articles 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Minor firearms offences 19 10 1 3 1 4 0 0 0 0
Membership of illegal organisations 59 44 4 10 1 0 0 0 0 0
Unlawful collection of information 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Illegal training 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

January-June 1979
Offence Number convicted Non Custodial sentence Borstal or Training Centre Less than 5 years 5 years and less than 7 years 7 years and less than 10 years 10 years and less than 15 years 15 years and less than 20 years 20 years and over Life
Kidnapping and false imprisonment 13 5 1 5 2 0 0 0 0 0
Contributing to resources of a proscribed organisation 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Soliciting support for a proscribed organisation 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 547 191 47 116 38 40 56 15 4 40
Notes on the tables:
1. The offence classifications are based on those used by the Crown and Peace Office in their annual return.
2. The tables relate to persons convicted at the Belfast City Commission. This covers all scheduled offences tried on indictment.
3. Some jury trials are included in cases where the Attorney General certified out of the scheduled mode of trial, i.e. non-terrorist serious offences.
4. Where a person has been convicted of more than one offence only the most serious or that which received the longest sentence is recorded in the statistics.