HL Deb 19 January 1983 vol 437 c1521WA
Lord Lloyd

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will state for 1965 and for last year how many cases there were of: Suspected murder; convictions for murder; missing persons; rape; other crimes of violence.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Elton)

The numbers of offences of homicide, rape and other violence against the person recorded by the police, and the numbers of persons convicted of murder are published annually inCriminal statistics, England and Wales—Tables 2.7, 2.8 and 5.9 of the volume for 1981, Cmnd 8668. More detailed information on offences of homicide is given in Chapter 4 of the same publication. Figures for 1965 and 1981 are given in the following table. Comprehensive statistics on missing persons are not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, information on the index maintained by the Metropolitan Police is published annually in the Report of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.

Certain recorded offences and convictions for murder:

ENGLAND AND WALES
Numbers
1965 1981
Offences recorded by the police
Homicide(1) 325 559
Other offences of violence against the person. 25,223 99,648
Rape .. .. .. .. 618 1,068(2)
Persons found guilty
Murder.. .. .. .. 57 126

(1) In the absence of a court decision it is not possible to distinguish between the offences of murder, manslaughter and infanticide: these are known collectively as "homicide".

(2) Part of the increase in recorded offences of rape may have been associated with the introduction at the end of 1976 of legislation enabling rape victims to remain anonymous in reports of court proceedings.