§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give for the longest and most convenient stated period of time, nationally and for the Metropolitan police area, the numbers of persons arrested and charged with rape where the victims were below the age of 21 years and above the age of 60 years; how many were aged 70 years and above; and if in these cases he will give a detailed list, without disclosing the names of the victims.
§ Mr. Mayhew[pursuant to his reply, 31 March 1983, c. 276]: The only readily available information by age of victim is for the Metropolitan police district and we understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that it is as given in the following table.
Arrests for offences of rape* recorded by the police by age of victim Metropolitan Police District Number of persons Age of victim Year Total Under 21 21–60 61–70 Over 70 Not recorded 1978 190 65 62 1 1 61 1979 175 73 48 — 1 53 1980 194 66 65 3 — 60 1981 127 55 46 1 4 21 1982 148 41 70 1 1 35 * Includes offences of aiding and abetting and attempts.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give for the longest and most convenient stated period of time the numbers of reported cases of rape nationally and in the Metropolitan police area, the number of cases where arrests took place and prosecutions followed and persons found guilty were sentenced and in these cases what were the sentences imposed; and in how many of these cases the convicted persons had more than one conviction for this offence.
§ Mr. Mayhew[pursuant to his reply, 31 March 1983, c. 276]: The information readily available on offences of rape includes offences of aiding and abetting and attempts. The number of recorded offences of rape is published annually in "Criminal statistics, England and Wales" both for England and Wales and for the Metropolitan police district—table 2.8 and supplementary table 3.1 of the issue for 1981. The only information readily available on arrests for rape is for the Metropolitan police district and is given in our reply today to another question from the hon. Member. The number of persons proceeded against in England and Wales for rape and the sentences imposed on those found guilty are published annually in "Criminal statistics, England and Wales" — supplementary tables 1.1(A) and 2.1(A). Corresponding information for courts in the Metropolitan police district in 1981 is given in the following table. Information on those who had more than one conviction for rape could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
71W
Metropolitan Police District 1981 Number of persons Persons proceeded against in magistrates' court for rape *145 Total sentenced at all courts of which *60 Immediate imprisonment 45 Probation order 5 Borstal training 2 Supervision order 2 Restriction order—section 65 of Mental Health Act 2 Other sentence 4 * A comparison between the numbers proceeded against in magistrates' courts and the numbers sentenced at all courts is not valid because charges brought on separate occasions at magistrates' courts, each of which is counted, may be heard on the same occasion at the Crown court and counted as one for the purposes of the latter statistic.