HC Deb 06 August 1980 vol 990 cc166-80W
Mr. J. Enoch Powell

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the security statistics for the second quarter of 1980 are available.

Mr. Humphrey Atkins

Yes. The information is as follows:

STATISTICS ON SECURITY
PART I—Statistics of Terrorist Activity
Yearly totals for 1971–79.
Quarterly totals for the first two quarters of 1980.
Statistics for terrorist activity comprise the following:
(i) Number of shooting incidents.
(ii) Number of explosions.
(iii) Number of bombs and devices neutralised.
(iv) Weight of explosives in bombs and devices neutralised.
(v) Number of malicious fires.
(vi) 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 1971–79.
Quarterly totals for the first two quarters of 1980.
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
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Shooting incidents … … … … 1,756 10,628 5,018 3,206 1,803 1,908 1,081 755 728
Explosions … … … … … 1,022 1,382 978 685 399 766 366 455 422
Bombs neutralised … … … … 493 471 542 428 236 426 169 178 143
Weight of explosives (in lbs.)*:
In explosions … … … … 10,972 47,462 47,472 46,435 13,753 17,596 2,839 5,343 11,180.75
Neutralised … … … … 3,001 19,978 32,450 27,094 11,159 16,252 2,188 5,860.5 4,530.5
Armed robberies … … … … 437 1,931 1,215 1,231 1,201 813 591 439 437
Amount stolen (£) … … … … 303,787 790,687 612,015 572,951 572,105 545,497 446,988 231,250 568,359
Malicious fires† … … … … — — 587 636 248 453 432 269 315
Deaths:
Civilians† (Sectarian, interfactional and intra-factional assassinations shown in brackets) 115 322 171 166 216 245 69 50 51
— (122) (87) (95) (144) (121) (42) (14) (33)
Army/UDR … … … … 48 129 66 35 20 29 29 21 48
RUC/RUC 'R' … … … 11 17 13 15 11 23 14 10 14
Injuries:
Civilians … … … … 1,838 3,813 1,812 1,680 2,044 2,162 1,027 548 555
Army/UDR … … … … 390 578 548 483 167 264 188 135 153
RUC/RUC 'R' … … … 315 485 291 235 263 303 183 302 165
* Estimated weight only.
† Consolidated figures not available for earlier years.

1980 quarterly figures
January-March April-June July-September October-December
Shooting incidents … … … … … … … … 180 162
Explosions … … … … … … … … … … 108 64
Bombs neutralised … … … … … … … … 42 47
Weight of explosives (in lbs)*:
In explosions … … … … … … … … 2,280 3,793.75
Neutralised … … … … … … … … … 916 3,537
Armed robberies … … … … … … … … … 121 64
Amount stolen (£) … … … … … … … … 46,736 79,814
Malicious firest† … … … … … … … … … 44 53
Deaths:
Civilians/(Sectarian, interfactional and intra-factional assassinations shown in brackets) 16 12
(9) (8)
Army/UDR … … … … … … … … … 7 2
RUC/RUC 'R' … … … … … … … … 4 3
Injuries:
Civilians … … … … … … … … … 125 110
Army/UDR … … … … … … … … … 25 14
RUC/RUC 'R' … … … … … … … … 20 27
* Estimated weight only.
† Consolidated figures not available for earlier years.

STATISTICS ON SECURITY—PART II
1980 quarterly figures
January-March April-June July-September October-December
Houses searched† … … … … … … … … … 2,336 1,139
Finds:
Firearms … … … … … … … … … 50 60
Ammunition (rds) … … … … … … … … 6,567 6,084
Explosives (lbs) … … … … … … … … 328.5 1,106.5
ICOS made … … … … … … … … … —

PERSONS CHARGED WTTH SERIOUS SECURITY TYPE OFFENCES*
January-March April-June July-September October-December
1980 1980 1980 1980
Murder … … … … … … … … … … 26 11
Attempted murder … … … … … … … … 21 7
Firearms offences … … … … … … … … 22 19
Explosives offences … … … … … … … … 12 19
Theft act … … … … … … … … … … 39 21
Other … … … … … … … … … … 46 37
TOTAL … … … … … … … … … 166 114
* These figures are not available in consolidated form for earlier years.
† Includes occupied and unoccupied houses searched.

STATISTICS ON SECURITY—PART II
Yearly figures
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Houses searched† … … … … 17,262 36,617 74,556 71,914 30,092 34,939 20,724 15,462 6,452
Finds:
Firearms … … … … 717 1,264 1,595 1,260 825 837 590 400 301
Ammunition (rds.) … … … 157,944 183,410 187,399 147,202 73,604 70,306 52,091 43,512 46,280
Explosives (lbs.) … … … 2,748 41,488 38,418 26,120 11,565 21,714 3,809 2,108 1,996.25
ICOS made … … … … … — 75 512 312 11 0 0 0 0

PERSONS CHARGED WITH SERIOUS SECURITY TYPE OFFENCES*
31 July-31December 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Murder … … 13 71 75 138 120 131 60 45
Attempted murder 16 85 75 88 121 135 79 39
Firearms offences … 242 631 544 460 353 301 225 177
Explosives offences 86 236 161 100 215 146 79 40
Theft act … … 111 186 232 314 188 203 151 159
Other … … 63 205 275 97 279 392 249 210
Total … … 531 1,414 1,362 1,197 1,276 1,308 843 670
* These figures are not available in consolidated form for earlier years.
† Includes occupied and unoccupied houses searched.

PERSONS CONVICTED AND SENTENCES IMPOSED AT BELFAST CROWN COURT, JANUARY TO JUNE 1980
Notes on the tables:
1. The offence classifications are based on those used by (he Crown and Peace Office in their annual return.
2. The tables relate to persons convicted at the Belfast Crown Court. 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.

IMPRISONMENT
Offences (January to June 1980) 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 … … … … … … … 13 — — — — — — — — 13
Attempted murder … … … … … 2 — — — — — — 2 — —
Conspiracy to murder … … … … 5 — 1 — — 1 3 — — —
Manslaughter … … … … … … 2 — — 1 — — — — 1 —
Wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm … 16 7 1 — 1 3 3 — 1 —
Causing explosion … … … … … 14 3 1 — — 3 7 — — —
Placing explosives … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Possessing explosives with intent … … … 10 — — — 2 3 4 1 — —
Causing grievous bodily harm … … … 5 — 3 1 — — 1 — — —
Assault occasioning grievous bodily harm … … 7 3 — 4 — — — — — —
Possessing a firearm with intent … … … 11 1 1 — 2 3 4 — — —
Possessing a firearm … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Carrying a firearm with intent … … … 10 1 4 — — 5 — — — —
Intimidation … … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Aggravated burglary … … … … … 1 — — — — — 1 — — —
Robbery … … … … … … 109 36 26 16 20 6 4 — 1 —
Hi-jacking … … … … … … 32 13 12 4 2 1 — — — —
Arson … … … … … … … 24 14 2 7 — 1 — — — —
Malicious damage … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Other explosive offences … … … … 8 2 — 1 1 2 2 — — —
Petrol bomb offences … … … … … 9 9 — — — — — — — —
Common law riot … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Escape offences … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Assisting offenders … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Other major firearms offences … … … 42 29 5 2 4 2 — — — —
Withholding information … … … … 5 4 — 1 — — — — — —
Possessing prohibited articles … … … … — — — — — — — — — —

IMPRISONMENT
Offences (January to June 1980) Number convicted Non custodial sentence Borstal or training center Less than 5 years 5 years and less than 7 years 7years and less than 10 years 10 years and less than 15 years 15 years and less than 20 years 20 years and over Life
Minor firearms offences … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Membership of illegal organisations … … 24 20 2 — 1 1 — — — —
Unlawful collection of information … … … 1 1 — — — — — — — —
Illegal training … … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Kidnapping and false imprisonment … … 10 3 1 — 3 — 3 — — —
Contributing to resources of a proscribed organisation … … … … … … … — — — — — — — — — —
Soliciting support for a proscribed organisation … — — — — — — — — — —
Criminal damage … … … … … 3 2 1 — — — — — — —
Total … … … … … … 363 148 60 37 36 31 32 3 3 13

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