§ Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what statistics are available regarding the number of persons who have committed suicide after being charged with a shoplifting offence during the last five years.
§ Mr. MellorThe only information available to the Home Office relates to court proceedings discontinued because the defendant committed suicide, which for magistrates' courts is published annually for all types of offence in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, supplementary tables, Volume I" (table S1.1(a)(i) of the publication for 1982). In 1982, of the 17 such proceedings which were discontinued, three involved people who had been proceeded against for shoplifting. The corresponding number of proceedings for shoplifting discontinued in 1978 was one; corresponding numbers for other previous years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information is not collected centrally on suicides before court proceedings begin or after the court has made its decision.
§ Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the approximate cost of prosecuting a shoplifing case.
§ Mr. MellorI regret that the information requested is not available.
§ Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were prosecuted in magistrates' courts for shoplifting in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983; and what was the conviction rate for each year.
§ Mr. MellorInformation on prosecutions for shoplifting in magistrates' courts is published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" (table S1.1(A) of supplementary tables, vol. 1 for 1982, offence classification 46). The proportion of persons prosecuted for shoplifting who were found guilty was just over 90 per cent. in each of the years 1979 to 1982.