HC Deb 01 July 1981 vol 7 cc379-82W

PART I—Statistics of Terrorist Activity

Statistics for terrorist activity comprise the following:

  1. (i) Number of shooting incidents
  2. (ii) Number of explosions

Statistics on Security Part I
Yearly Figures
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
Shooting Incidents 1,756 10,628 5,018 3,206 1,803 1,908 1,081
Explosions 1,022 1,382 978 685 399 766 366
Bombs Neutralised 493 471 542 428 236 426 169
Weight of Explosives (in lbs)*
In explosions 10,972 47,462 47,472 46,435 13,753 17,596 2,839
Neutralised 3,001 19,978 32,450 27,094 11,159 16,252 2,188
Armed Robberies 437 1,931 1,215 1,231 1,201 813 591
Amount Stolen £ 303,787 790,687 612,015 572,951 572,105 545,497 446,988
Malicious Fires† 587 636 248 453 432
Deaths: Civilians† 115 322 171 166 216 245 69
(Sectarian, interfactional and intrafactional assassinations shown in brackets) (122) (87) (95) (144) (121) (42)
Deaths: Army/UDR 48 129 66 35 20 29 29
Deaths: RUC/RUC'R' 11 17 13 15 11 23 14
Injuries: Civilians 1,838 3,813 1,812 1,680 2,044 2,162 1,027
Injuries: Army/UDR 390 578 548 483 167 264 188
Injuries: RUC/RUC'R' 315 485 291 235 263 303 183
* Estimated weight only
† Consolidated figures not available for earlier years

Statistics on Security Part I
Yearly Figures 1981
1978 1979 1980 January-March April and May
Shooting Incidents 755 728 642 88 243
Explosions 455 422 280 61 143
Bombs Neutralised 178 142 120 27 16
Weight of Explosives (in lbs)*
In explosions 5,343 11,180.75 9,059 1,138.89 1,067.61
Neutralised 5,860.5 4,530.5 6,404.8 1,884.80 227.07
Armed Robberies 439 434 412 159 50
Amount Stolen £ 232,650 568,359 496,829 194,623 49,220
Malicious Fires† 269 315 275 61 ‡
Deaths: Civilians† 50 51 50 6 16
(Sectarian, interfactional and intrafactional assassinations shown in brackets) (14) (33) (27) (4) (4)
Deaths: Army/UDR 21 48 16 5 9
Deaths: RUC/RUC 'R' 10 14 9 4 6
Injuries: Civilians 548 555 513 97 313

  1. (iii) Number of bombs and devices neutralized
  2. (iv) Weight of explosives in bombs and devices neutralised
  3. (v) Number of malicious fires
  4. (vi) Number of armed robberies and amount stolen
  5. (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

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, armed robbery and other offences relating to the security situation, eg arson, membership of illegal organisations, etc.).

Yearly Figures 1981
1978 1979 1980 January-March April and May
Injuries: Army/UDR 135 153 77 14 36
Injuries: RUC/RUC 'R' 302 165 194 63 120
* Estimated Weight only
† Consolidated figures not available for earlier years
‡ Not yet available

Statistics on Security Part II
Yearly Figures
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978
Houses searched (2) 17,262 36,617 74,556 71,914 30,092 34,939 20,724 15,462
Finds: Firearms 717 1,264 1,595 1,260 825 837 590 400
Finds: Ammunition (rds) 157,994 183.410 187,399 147,202 73,604 70,306 52,091 43,512
Finds: Explosives (lbs.) 2,748 41,488 38,418 26,120 11,565 21,714 3,809 2,108

Persons charged with serious security type ofences (1) 31 July—31 Dec
1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978
Murder 13 71 75 138 120 131 60
Attempted Murder 16 85 75 88 121 135 79
Firearms Offences 242 631 544 460 353 301 225
Explosive Offences 86 236 161 100 215 146 79
Theft Act 111 186 232 314 188 203 151
Other 63 205 275 97 279 392 249
Total 531 1,414 1,362 1,197 1,276 1,308 843
(1) These figures are not available in consolidated form for earlier years.
(2) Includes occupied and unoccupied houses searched.

Statistics on Security Part II
Yearly Figures 1981
1979 1980 January-March 1981 April and May 1981
Houses searched† 6,452 4,106 321 781
Finds: Firearms 301 203 77 69
Finds: Ammunition (Rds) 46,280 28,078 9,113 7,377
Finds: Explosives (Lbs) 1,996.25 1,810 1,904.5 418.2
† Includes occupied and unoccupied houses searched.

Persons charged with serious security type offences*
1979 1980 January-March 1981 April and May 1981
Murder 45 63 13 2
Attempted Murder 39 59 20 18
Firearms Offences 177 112 22 19
Explosives Offences 40 39 12 7
Theft Act 159 128 63 18
Other 210 149 21 194
Total 670 550 151 258
* These figures are not available in consolidated form for earlier years.