§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many personal injury claims have been made for torts allegedly committed by police officers on duty in Northern Ireland; and how many of these have (a) been settled out of court and how many of these have been settled in the plaintiff's favour, and (b) gone to court, and how many of these have been settled in the plaintiff's favour.
§ Mr. ScottSection 14 of the Police Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 provides that the police authority for Northern Ireland is liable for any damages or costs awarded against the Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster494W Constabulary in respect of torts committed by members of the force while on duty. Since 1 April 1982, the police authority has received 212 civil claims for personal injuries allegedly caused by members of the RUC while on duty. Since that date, three of these claims and fourteen received earlier have been settled out of court and in the plaintiff's favour; one of these claims and nine received earlier have been settled in court in the plaintiff's favour.
Information on the number of claims for personal injuries received before 1 April 1982 or on the number of claims settled in court against the plaintiffs since that date could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police officers have been charged since 1969 in Northern Ireland with offences against the person, allegedly committed while on duty; and how many of these were (a) convicted and for what offences and (b) acquitted and of what charges.