HC Deb 01 July 1985 vol 82 cc17-21W
Mr. Amess

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many children were charged with offences relating to sections 32, 33 and 34 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, for (a) Billericay petty sessional area (b) Essex and (c) England and Wales, for each of the past five years;

(2) how many children were charged with offences relating to sections 35 and 36 of the Malicious Damage Act 1861 for (a) Billericay petty sessional area (b) Essex and (c) England and Wales, for each of the past five years;

(3) how many children were convicted of offences relating to sections 32, 33 and 34 of the Malicious Damage Act 1861; and what was the average sentence for (a) Billericay petty sessional area (b) Essex and (c) England and Wales, for each of the past five years;

(4) how many children were convicted of offences relating to sections 35 and 36 of the Malicious Damage Act 1861; and what was the average sentence for (a) Billericay petty sessional area (b) Essex and (c) England and Wales, for each of the past five years;

(5) in what percentage of cases of children convicted under sections 35 and 36 of the Malicious Damage Act 1861 compensation orders were made against parents for (a) Billericay petty sessional area (b) Essex and (c) England and Wales, for each of the past five years;

(6) in what percentage of cases of children convicted under sections 32, 33 and 34 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 compensation orders were made against parents for (a) Billericay petty sessional area (b) Essex and (c) England and Wales, for each of the past five years;

(7) how many children were cautioned under sections 35 and 36 of the Malicious Damage Act 1861 by (a) Essex police and (b) the British Transport police for each of the past five years; and what percentage of these resided in south-east Essex;

Persons aged under 17 cautioned or proceeded against in Billericay Petty Sessional Division, Essex police force area and England and Wales for certain offences by disposal
1980–83 Number of persons and percentages
Disposal Year Billericay PSD Essex police force England and Wales
Offences under Sections 32 to 34 of the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861
Cautioned 1980 n.a. 3
1981 n.a. 3
1982 n.a. 2
1983 n.a. 6
Proceeded against at magistrates courts 1980 55
1981 1 1 33
1982 16
1982 32
Found guilty at all courts 1980 †52
1981 1 1 24
1982 2
1983 12
Fine (numbers) 1980 10
1981 14
1982 2
Fine (average amount) 1980 £14

(8) how many children were cautioned under sections 32, 33 and 34 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 by (a) Essex police and (b) British Transport police for each of the past five years; and what percentage of these resided in south-east Essex;

(9) how many children have been convicted of offences relating to section 56 of the British Transport Commission Act 1949, what was the average sentence for (a) the Billericay petty sessional area, (b) Essex, and (c) for England and Wales for each of the past five years;

(10) how many children were charged with offences relating to section 56 of the British Transport Commission Act 1949 for (a) the Billericay petty sessional area, (b) Essex, and (c) for England and Wales for each of the past five years;

(11) on how many occasions compensation orders have been made on parents of children convicted of offences relating to section 56 of the British Transport Commission Act 1949 in (a) the Billericay petty sessional area, (b) Essex, and (c) in England and Wales for each of the past five years.

Mr. Mellor

[pursuant to his replies, 18 June 1985, c. 88–89 and 20 June 1985, c. 185]: The information available to me, which may be incomplete is given in the following table for 1980–83; corresponding information for 1984 is not yet available.

Question (3) has been taken to refer to the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861.

Information collected centrally does not include details of cautions by the British Transport police, nor on the place of residence of offenders. For offences under sections 32 to 34 of the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861, the information for England and Wales is published annually in "Criminal Statistics England and Wales, Supplementary Tables", under offence classification 6: in vol 1, tables S1.1(B) and S1.1(C)—magistrates' courts, in vol 2, tables S2.1(B) and S2.1(C)—the Crown Court and in vol 4, table S4.1(C)—cautions.

Disposal Year Billericay PSD Essex police force England and Wales
1981 £39
1982 £63
1983 £23
Other non-custodial sentence 1980 41
1981 8
1982 12
1983 19
Custodial sentence 1980
1981 1 1 2
1982
1983
Parents to pay compensation (numbers) 1980
1981
1982
1983
Parents to pay compensation (percentages) 1980
1981
1982
1983
Offences under Sections 35 to 36 of the Malicious Damage Act 1861
Cautioned 1980 n.a. 1
1981 n.a. 7
1982 n.a. 3
1983 n.a. 5
Proceeded against at magistrates courts 1980 27
1981 20
1982 24
1983 18
Found guilty at all courts 1980 25
1981 19
1982 22
1983 ‡19
Fine (numbers) 1980 7
1981 1
1982 1
1983 3
Fine (average amount) 1980 £24
1981 £20
1982 £75
1983 £50
Other non-custodial sentence 1980 15
1981 16
1982 18
1983 11
Custodial sentence 1980 3
1981 2
1982 3
1983 5
Parents to pay compensation (numbers) 1980
1981
1982
1983
Parents to pay compensation (percentages) 1980
1981
1982
1983
Offences under certain Acts relating to railways*
Cautioned 1980 n.a. 24
1981 n.a. 16
1982 n.a. 1 35
1983 n.a. 9
Proceeded against at magistrates courts 1980 9 390

Disposal Year Billericay PSD Essex police force England and Wales
1981 4 18 249
1982 6 249
1983 6 260
Found guilty at all courts 1980 9 380
1981 3 17 235
1982 6 230
1983 4 243
Fine (numbers) 1980 6 259
1981 3 12 167
1982 4 156
1983 3 199
Fine (average amount) 1980 £13 £11
1981 £20 £16 £11
1982 £8 £12
1983 £7 £12
Other non-custodial sentence 1980 3 121
1981 5 68
1982 2 74
1983 1 44
Custodial sentence 1980
1981
1982
1983
Parents to pay compensation (numbers) 1980 1
1981
1982
1983 2
Parents to pay compensation (percentages) 1980 (less than half)
1981
1982
1983 1
n.a. Not available.
* Including section 56 of the British Transport Commission Act 1949 and private railway acts.
† Includes one person committed for sentence by a magistrates' court but not yet sentenced by the Crown Court.
‡ Persons can be found guilty at the Crown Court for a difference offence from which they are committed for trial. Hence, sometimes the total found guilty at all courts exceeds the total proceeded against at magistrates' courts.