HC Deb 13 May 1980 vol 984 cc424-5W
Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought for stealing 3½p of electricity for the most convenient period of time; and what was the cost to public funds of such prosecutions.

Mr. Brittan

The information collected centrally on persons prosecuted for the offence of abstracting electricity does not include the value of the theft. The total number of persons proceeded against in 1978 for this offence is published in " Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1978 " (table 1 (a), offence classification 43, Cmnd. 7670).