§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing the number of murders committed in each police force area in each of the past six years; how many of these led to convictions in the High Court; and if he will make a statement.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 18 February 1993]: The table below gives the number of victims in murder cases, and the number of persons convicted of murder in the High Court in these cases for each police force area. The latest available information is for 1991.
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Persons accused Police-force area Number of murder victims convicted in high court no conviction1 1986 Northern 1 1 — Grampian 2 1 1 Tayside 1 1 — Fife 1 1 — Lothian and Borders 8 6 1 Central — — — Strathclyde 34 24 21 Dumfries and Galloway 1 1 — Total 48 35 23 1987 Northern 2 1 1 Grampian 1 1 — Tayside 1 1 — Fife 1 — 1 Lothian and Borders 6 4 2 Central 3 5 — Strathclyde 32 21 30 Dumfries and Galloway 2 2 2 Total 48 35 36
Persons accused Police-force area Number of murder victims convicted in high court no conviction1 1988 Northern — — — Grampian 2 2 — Tayside 1 1 — Fife 2 3 — Lothian and Borders 5 5 4 Central 1 — 1 Strathclyde 23 18 7 Dumfries and Galloway2 1 1 1 Total 35 30 13 1989 Northern 3 1 2 Grampian 1 1 — Tayside 4 4 — Fife — — — Lothian and Borders 3 3 — Central — — — Strathclyde 29 21 19 Dumfries and Galloway 1 1 — Total 41 31 23 1990 Northern 2 1 1 Grampian 1 1 — Tayside 3 1 2 Fife 1 1 — Lothian and Borders 8 6 3 Central 1 1 — Strathclyde 21 12 15 Dumfries and Galloway — — — Total 37 23 21 1991 Northern 1 — 1 Grampian 2 2 — Tayside 4 1 2 Fife 3 2 — Lothian and Borders 12 12 7 Central 1 — 1 Strathclyde 32 10 23 Dumfries and Galloway 1 1 1 Total 56 28 35 1 No conviction includes; no proceedings, proceedings dropped, death of suspect, aquitted, and case pending. 2 The 270 victims of the Lockerbie disaster are excluded from this figure.