HC Deb 02 March 1982 vol 19 cc78-80W
Mr. Nicholas Winterton

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were arrested for personal assault, burglary and vandalism during 1980 and 1981 in (a) the United Kingdom as a whole, (b) in the Metropolitan Police area, and (c) in each police district of the Metropolitan Police area; what information he has as to the number of persons of West Indian or African appearance arrested for such offences during the same period; and if he will express these numbers as a percentage of the total figures.

Persons Arrested* for Selected Offences by Ethnic Appearance
Metropolitan Police District, 1980 Number of Persons
All persons Black skinned persons (including West Indian/African) Black skinned persons as a percentage of all persons
District Assault Burg-lary Criminal damage Assault Burg-lary Criminal damage Assault Burg-lary Criminal damage
A—(Part) Westminster 148 122 212 20 11 11 14 9 5
B—Kensington and Chelsea 316 378 347 60 66 38 19 17 11
C—(Part) Westminster 297 218 323 41 31 24 14 14 7
D—(Part) Westminster 266 402 250 51 68 22 19 17 9
E—Camden 371 456 506 53 67 34 14 15 7
F—Hammersmith 346 381 348 67 57 45 19 15 13
G—Hackney 358 733 347 135 291 93 38 40 27
H—Tower Hamlets 306 400 330 44 48 37 14 12 11
I—Heathrow, etc. 175 133 169 5 6 4 3 5 2
J—Waltham Forest, Redbridge, etc. 508 636 589 61 116 54 12 18 9
K—Havering, Barking and Newham 754 853 822 107 120 55 14 14 7
L—Lambeth 489 706 519 200 281 122 41 40 24
M—Southwark 408 735 393 108 178 44 26 24 11
N—Islington 252 448 318 48 78 31 19 17 10
P—Lewisham and Bromley 558 872 682 118 174 58 21 20 9
Q—Brent and Harrow 452 632 491 175 202 92 39 32 19
R—Greenwich and Bexley 463 748 398 44 74 23 10 10 6
S—Barnet and Hertsmere 272 426 370 23 32 13 8 8 4
T—Richmond-upon-Thames and Hounslow 396 535 521 24 44 20 6 8 4
V—Kingston-upon-Thames, Merton etc. 210 399 339 13 16 14 6 4 4
W—Wandsworth 310 615 422 87 200 69 28 33 16
X—Ealing and Hillingdon 363 553 435 37 59 24 10 11 6
Y—Haringey and Enfield, etc. 450 666 525 97 194 64 22 29 12
Z—Croydon and Sutton, etc. 378 599 591 33 69 29 9 12 5
MPD Total 8,846 12,646 10,247 1,651 2,428 1,020 19 20 10
* Persons proceeded against by means of a charge, referral to a juvenile bureau, a caution or in some way; arrests not followed by any action are not included.
Metropolitan Police Office classification includes arrests for homicide and violent sexual offences.
Metropolitan Police Office classification excludes a small number of arrests for burglaries involving violence.

Mr. Macmillan

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give for each of the calendar years 1950, 1960, 1970 and 1980 the total number of serious offences, that is to say offences which before 1979 would have been known as indictable, known to the police and the percentage of those convicted by any court of such offences who were sentenced to immediate imprisonment; and if he will further give the percentage of those convicted by any court of such offences who were given suspended sentences in 1970 and 1980.

Mr. Mayhew

[pursuant to his reply, 22 February 1982, c. 278]: The number of serious offences recorded by the police in each of the years requested is given in table 2.2 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1980", Cmnd. 8376. Information on sentencing for indictable offences in the years 1970 to 1980 is to be found in table 7.4 of the same publication. The percentages of those sentenced for indictable offences who were sentenced to immediate imprisonment were: 17, 14, nine and nine, respectively in 1950, 1960, 1970 and 1980. The corresponding percentages given suspended sentences were eight and seven respectively in 1970 and 1980.

Mr. Mayhew

The detailed information requested is not collected centrally for all police force areas. I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the information available for the Metropolitan Police district is as given in the following table.

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