§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many armed robberies took place (a) in England and Wales, and (b) in the Metropolitan police area during each of the past five years for which figures are available; in how many of these cases was a weapon actually fired; and how many of the weapons employed were shotguns.
§ Mr. MayhewInformation on the numbers of robberies recorded by the police in England and Wales over the period 1971–1981 in which firearms were reported to have been used is published by type of weapon in table 3.4 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1981" (Cmnd. 8668). More detailed information is readily available only for the years 1979–81 and is given in the following tables; corresponding information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Offences of robbery recorded by the police in which firearms were reported to have been used by whether the weapon was fired England and Wales Number of Offences Total Weapon fired Weapon not fired 1979 1,083 47 1,036 1980 1,149 77 1,072 1981 1,893 103 1,790
Offences of robbery recorded by the police in which firearms were reported to have been used by type of weapon and whether the weapon was fired Metropolitan Police District Number of offences Total Long-barrelled shotgun Sawn-off shotgun Other Weapon fired Weapon not fired 1979 734 103 188 443 33 701 1980 740 65 131 544 45 695 1981 1,317 185 202 930 54 1,263