HC Deb 18 December 1989 vol 164 cc15-6W
Mr. Mills

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of all reported crimes are listed as thefts of, or thefts from, motor vehicles;

(2) what percentage of offenders involved in theft of, or thefts from, motor vehicles are apprehended; what percentage are convicted; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. John Patten

The available published information can be found in the annual Command Paper, "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales": the latest issue, for 1988, is Cm. 847, and a copy is available in the Library. In 1988 about one quarter of all notifiable crimes recorded by the police were thefts of, or from, motor vehicles, and about a quarter of these offences were cleared up. The number of persons prosecuted and found guilty of thefts of or from motor vehicles in 1988 is given in the following table:

Persons proceeded against and found guilty of thefts of and from motor vehicles—England and Wales 1988
Total proceeded against Total found guilty Percentage found guilty
Theft of motor vehicles 6.111 4,080 67
Theft from motor vehicles 10,796 8,316 77