§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) women and (b) men are currently in prison for killing their spouse or partner.
§ Mrs. RumboldVictim information is recorded centrally only for prisoners received to serve a life sentence for an offence of homicide. According to these records, which are approximate, 299 males and 22 females in prison service establishments in England and Wales on 31 December 1990 were serving life sentences for the murder or manslaughter of their spouse or lover.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the figures for ( a ) the total number of homicides in England and Wales and(b) the total number of homicides in England and Wales in which the victim was a child, in (i) the last complete year in which the death penalty was available to the courts and (ii) each year since the death penalty ceased to be available to the courts.
§ Mr. John PattenThe Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 came into operation on 9 November 1965.
The total number of homicides in England and Wales for each year since 1964 is included in table 4.1 of "Criminal Statistics England and Wales 1989" a copy of which is in the Library. An age breakdown of currently recorded homicide victims is available only from 1967 and the information for 1979 to 1989 is published in table 4.6 of "Criminal Statistics England and Wales 1989"; the figures available for children aged under 16 are shown in the following table. 341W
Offences currently1 recorded as homicide where victim aged under 16 years Year Number of offences 1967–71 1052 1972–76 1002 1977 72 1978 86 1979 90 1980 72 1981 80 1982 90 1983 74 1984 82 1985 103 1986 60 1987 78 1988 100 1989 71 1As at June 1990; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and the courts, or as further information becomes available. 2 Average per year. Source: Criminal Statistics volumes: 1977 Table 9.4; 1987 Table 4.6; 1989 Table 4.6.