§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many breach of the peace convictions were related to alcohol consumption in each of the years from 1980; and if he will express the figures as a percentage of the total number of convictions for each of the years ;
(2) if he will list the number of criminal convictions in which alcohol was a contributory factor by region in each of the last three years.
§ Mr. John PattenThe only information collected centrally on convictions in which alcohol is known to be a contributory factor relates to offences of drunkeness and offences against the intoxicating liquor laws and is given in the table. I understand that a review of the findings of research studies into the influence of alcohol and crime is to be included in a report prepared for the Home Office standing conference on crime prevention by an independent working group on "Alcohol and Young People": this is to be published on 24 November. 475W
Persons found guilty of drunkenness offences and offences against intoxicating liquor laws by police force area England and Wales Number of persons Police force area 1984 1985 1986 Avon and Somerset 813 899 596 Bedfordshire 426 421 255 Cambridgeshire 362 396 144 Cheshire 761 679 705 Cleveland 1,325 993 741 Cumbria 673 755 573 Derbyshire 629 733 367 Devon and Cornwall 1,198 1,011 697 Dorset 248 313 303 Durham 765 799 547 Essex 535 495 128 Gloucestershire 235 239 185 Greater Manchester 4,065 3,855 2,109 Hampshire 1,901 2,036 1,846 Hertfordshire 512 591 373 Humberside 853 682 550 Kent 743 737 385 Lancashire 2,545 2,491 2,158 Leicestershire 266 117 56 Lincolnshire 329 314 182 London, City of 202 260 224 Merseyside 5,220 3,917 2,695 Metropolitan Police District 12,831 3,890 4,501 Norfolk 293 218 213 Northamptonshire 253 240 167 Northumbria 4,503 3,874 3,730 North Yorkshire 622 250 557 Nottinghamshire 482 637 485 South Yorkshire 2,171 2,932 1,964 Staffordshire 788 719 719 Suffolk 324 283 161 Surrey 184 218 196 Sussex 1,109 925 526 Thames Valley 1,762 1,516 1,453 Warwickshire 310 336 221 West Mercia 846 762 586 West Midlands 3,968 3,953 2,345 West Yorkshire 3,386 3,580 3,157 Wiltshire 365 256 180 Dyfed-Powys 742 622 625 Gwent 1,350 1,429 1,269 North Wales 477 512 515 South Wales 2,608 2,103 1,991 England and Wales 63,980 51,988 41,380