§ Mr. KilfedderTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many murders, classed as sectarian 11W and non-sectarian have (a) been committed and (b) resulted in prosecution and conviction between October 1969 and October 1988.
§ Mr. Ian StewartInformation in the form requested is not readily available from existing records and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs. The relevant data which are available are given in the following table:—
Year Number of murders1 Murders cleared Persons proceeded against2 Found guilty3 1969 5 4 4 — 1970 14 5 1 — 1971 123 11 10 — 1972 376 32 5 — 1973 200 46 39 — 1974 205 49 42 — 1975 238 55 79 68 1976 280 87 71 58 1977 116 104 82 74 1978 82 67 48 46 1979 128 58 68 60 1980 85 59 24 23 1981 95 42 35 34 1982 99 45 23 21 1983 86 61 20 15 1984 63 50 18 10 1985 59 47 44 39 1986 85 39 31 25 1987 100 51 23 19 1988 111 79 24 17 1 'Number of murders'—includes all murders in Northern Ireland; it does not include cases classed as manslaughter nor infanticides. 2 Only shows the number of people who were proceeded against for murder. Some cases initially dealt with as murder were dealt with in the High Court as manslaughter. 3 Information for persons found guilty during the period 1969–1974 is not readily available. Conviction figures do not necessarily relate to incidents occurring that year.