§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date the Lion Intoximeter 3000 was first introduced.
§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will place in the Library the full report of his Department's laboratory staff on the Lion Intoximeter 3000;
(2) for how long the Lion Intoximeter 3000 was on test with his Department.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what length of trial period was conducted on the Lion Intoximeter;
(2) whether the results obtained from any Lion Intoximeter machines were eliminated from consideration during the trial period.
§ Mr. HurdAll evidential breath testing instruments submitted to the forensic science service for evaluation 327W were subjected to four months of initial laboratory testing. On the basis of these tests, three makes of instrument were selected for more rigorous testing. This took the form of a field trial lasting 18 weeks, and involving members of the public. A copy of the report of this trial is in the Library of the House.
One of the original four Lion Intoximeter 3000 instruments used in the field trial, having been found to be faulty and under-reading, was replaced and the results obtained from it were excluded from the final report of the trial.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints he has received from police forces since May 1983 about the reliability and accuracy of Lion Intoximeters; on what dates; and whether he will list the police forces.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many appeals against convictions, based on evidence provided by Lion intoximeters, have been unsuccessful;
(2) how many convictions, involving evidence provided by the Lion intoximeter, have been overturned on appeal.
§ Mr. HurdThe information requested is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many problems of calibration of the Lion intoximeter have been reported to his Department by Lion Intoximeter Ltd.; and on what dates.
§ Mr. HurdAll Lion Intoximeter 3000 instruments are calibrated to a standard recommended by the British calibration service. This is carried out only at the manufacturer's premises by engineers approved by the British calibration service. The calibration of each instrument is checked automatically immediately before and after the subject has provided two breath samples for analysis. In addition the forensic science service carries out random audits of a proportion of instruments in operational use. It also has regular discussions with the manufacturer about the operation and maintenance of these instruments but information is not held centrally as to the time, place, or nature of these discussions.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date he circulated (a) police forces and (b) magistrates' courts with details of changes in calibration of the Lion intoximeter, amending the top permissible limit to 37.
§ Mr. HurdNotification to the police of the permissible limits for the pre- and post-test calibration checks on the Lion intoximeter was carried out not by my right hon. and learned Friend but by the manufacturers before the instrument was introduced. They corrected a typographical error which they had made in the upper limit from 38 to 37. Police training has always taught the correct limit of 37.
A Home Office circular issued to magistrates' courts on 25 March 1983 stated incorrectly that the upper limit was 38 whereas the permissible limit has at all times since introduction of the instrument been 37. This error was corrected in a further circular to magistrates' courts issued on 16 November 1983.
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§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many no sample readings have been recorded by Lion intoximeters in use by police forces since May 1983; and what percentage of all tests this figure represents.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he will arrange for a review of all cases which have involved evidence provided by the Lion intoximeter;
(2) whether he will arrange for a review of all convictions which have been secured on the basis of evidence provided by the Lion intoximeter.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will list the different conditions and circumstances which may affect the performance and reliability of the Lion intoximeter.
§ Mr. HurdThe Lion intoximeter is designed and built to operate in normal office conditions. Large voltage fluctuations and polluted environments may affect its performance, but a trained operator should readily be able to recognise the effects of such abnormal conditions and not use the instrument. Extremes of temperature may affect the pre-subject calibration check. Under such circumstances the instrument will not proceed with the test.
§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many cases have been brought by the police since May 1983 on the basis of evidence provided by the Lion intoximeter;
(2) how many people have been convicted of offences on the basis of evidence provided by the Lion intoximeter since May 1983.
§ Mr. HurdInformation on court proceedings in 1983 is not yet available; it will be published in the autumn.