§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons charged with murder have subsequently pleaded guilty to section 2 manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility in each of the past 20 years; and in how many of these cases the charges involved the killing of children.
§ Mr. John PattenThe numbers of persons indicted for murder and subsequently convicted of section 2 manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility are published annually in table 4.7 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", copies of which are available in the Library. The number of such cases for the years 1982 to 1987 where one or more of the victims was less than 16 years of age are given in the following table. Corresponding figures for 1965 to 1981 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Convictions of Section 2 manslaughter Year Indicted for murder All cases Cases in which 1 or more victim(s) aged less than 16 1975 414 77 n/a 1976 429 92 n/a 1977 359 94 n/a 1978 439 90 n/a 1979 502 109 n/a 1980 429 88 n/a 1981 454 87 n/a 1982 441 102 22 1983 418 80 11 1984 465 78 14 1985 2495 73 9 1986 537 78 6 19873 307 48 9 1 As at 1 June 1988. 2 Including two persons committed for trial on a voluntary bill of indictment. 3 1987 figures are not yet complete: there were 319 suspects for whom court proceedings were not completed by 1 June 1988. n/a Not available.
§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were(a) charged with and (b) convicted of the killing of children in (i) England and Wales and (ii) the Basildon area for each year since 1965.
§ Mr. John PattenThe numbers of persons indicted and convicted for homicide offences are published annually in table 4.7 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales",
Persons indicted1 for homicide where one or more of the victims was aged under 16 years of age, by outcome of proceedings Number of persons Convicted of homicide Year Indicted for homicide Murder Section 2 manslaughter Other manslaughter Infanticide England and Wales 1982 68 18 22 19 6 1983 72 16 11 28 10 1984 64 8 14 28 2 1985 74 22 9 22 8 1986 60 18 6 19 3 19872 47 11 9 20 — Essex Police Force Area 1982 1 1 — — — 1983 2 — 1 1 — 1984 1 — 1 — — 1985 2 1 — 1 — 1986 2 — — 1 — 1987 1 — 1 — — 1As at 1 June 1988. 21987 figures are not yet complete: there were 319 suspects for whom court proceedings were not completed by 1 June 1988.