§ Mr. Nellistasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will give that information which he has, in a similar format to the answer to the hon. Member for Coventry, South-East on Monday 4 June, Official Report, columns 7–8, as to the nature of offences that those pickets arrested in connection with the miners' dispute have been charged with on 30 May and 31 May;
(2) if he will give a breakdown of the total number of pickets arrested from 1 June to 7 June, inclusive, by police force area; and what information he has as to the nature of offences that those arrested have been charged with.
§ Mr. HurdThe following numbers of arrests were made between 1 and 7 June inclusive in connection with the miners' dispute:
Police force area Number of arrests Derbyshire 31 Durham 6 Essex 2 Greater Manchester 11 Kent 16 Lancashire 11 Metropolitan 121 Nottinghamshire 55 South Yorkshire 54 Staffordshire 7 Warwickshire 2 Total 316 The information available centrally about charges brought by the police in connection with the dispute is updated on a weekly basis. It is not possible to give figures for 325W particular days. The most recent information available relates to the period between 30 May and 5 June inclusive, when the following charges were brought:
Offence Number of charges Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1936 (conduct conducive to a breach of the peace) 99 Obstruction of a police constable 34 Obstruction of the highway 7 Criminal damage 17 Assault on a police constable 13 Assault occasioning actual bodily harm 10 Grievous bodily harm 1 Theft 2 Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act 3 Breach of bail conditions 1 Drunkenness 1 Unlawful assembly 29 Other offences 4 Total 222