§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Attorney-General if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of persons in Northern Ireland released after the retraction of alleged accomplice witness evidence, the numbers of persons acquitted in such trials where evidence was given 224W in court by an accomplice witness and the number of persons whose convictions were quashed on appeal for the first six months of the current year.
§ The Attorney-GeneralDuring the period 1 January 1986 to 30 June 1986 there have been no trials in Northern Ireland in which evidence was given by an accomplice witness. During the same period the convictions of two persons tried in 1983 were quashed on appeal to the Court of Appeal. During the same period no cases were received in the Department of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland in which an alleged accomplice subsequently declined to give evidence for the Crown.
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Attorney-General if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of persons tried on indictment for scheduled offences and the total number of persons pleading guilty or convicted in such trials for the first six months of the current year in Northern Ireland.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe number of persons tried on indictment for scheduled offences in Northern Ireland during the period 1 January 1986 and 30 June 1986 is as follows:
Number Number of persons tried 331 Number of persons pleading guilty 295 Number of persons convicted on plea of not guilty 23
§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Attorney-General if he will publish a table in the Official Report showing the number of trials in Northern Ireland involving evidence given in court by an accomplice witness, the number of persons tried in such trials, together with the number of persons pleading guilty to, or convicted of, scheduled offences where evidence was given in court by an accomplice witness and the number of persons found guilty of or pleading guilty to, scheduled offences on the basis of accomplice witness evidence, but where the accomplice witness may not have given evidence in court, for the first six months of the current year.
§ The Attorney-GeneralDuring the period 1 January 1986 and 30 June 1986 there have been no trials in Northern Ireland where evidence has been given by an accomplice witness. There is no comprehensive record of, and it is not now feasible to identify without disproportionate cost, the nature of the evidence which was before the court in relation to individuals. There is no record of any person found guilty of or pleading guilty to scheduled offences on the basis of accomplice witness evidence where the accomplice witness has not given evidence in court.