§ Lord Windleshamasked Her Majesty's Government:
In how many convictions for murder in 1993 was a firearm the weapon used; what percentage of all murder convictions in the same year this represents; and whether there has been an upward trend in the number of such murders in recent years.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Blatch)The available information relates to convictions for homicides recorded during 1993 and takes into account court proceedings completed by 5 August 1994.
By 5 August 1994, 13 suspects had been convicted of murder arising from offences of homicide initially recorded during 1993 in which the apparent method of killing was shooting. This represents 10 per cent. of all suspects convicted of murder arising from offences of homicide initially recorded during 1993.
On 5 August 1994, court proceedings were pending for 26 offences of homicide in which the apparent method of killing was shooting.
There is no evidence of an increase in recent years in the number of homicides where the apparent method of killing was shooting. The following figures show that in the period 1984–1988, there were on average 54.4 initially recorded homicides each year in which the apparent method of killing was shooting, compared with 54.0 during 1989–1993.