§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the numbers of offences attributed to juvenile offenders(a) in 1979 and (b) in 1994; what were the numbers of juveniles given custodial sentences (i) in 1979 and (ii) in 1994; and what were the reasons for trends in those statistics. [23936]
§ Mr. MacleanIt is not possible to present an accurate picture of the nature and extent of crime committed by youths aged 10 to 17, as much crime is unreported and not all reported crime is cleared up. We cannot therefore measure the number of crimes actually committed by young people. The best indicator we have is the number of young people known to have been involved in offending, that is, those cautioned by the police for, or convicted by the courts of, a crime.
Information given in the tables show (a) the number of known offenders by age and type of offence and (b) persons sentenced to immediate custody by age and type of offence for the years 1979 and 1993.
Reasons for the trends in known offending may include the demographic fall in the general population of persons aged 10 to 17 from 6.4 million in 1979 to 4.9 million in 1993. The trends may also partly reflect the increased use of informal methods for dealing with young offenders.
1994 data will not be available until autumn 1995.
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Table A—Number of persons found guilty at all courts or cautioned by age and type of offence 1979 and 1993 England and Wales Thousands Persons aged 10–17 All ages Type of offence 1979 1993 1979 1993 Indictable offences Violence against the person1 13.6 16.0 53.1 63.0 Sexual offences 2.7 1.5 10.2 7.6 Burglary2 36.8 19.1 66.1 53.1 Robbery 1.1 2.1 3.3 5.8 Theft and handling stolen goods1 128.7 73.1 295.5 238.8
Table A—Number of persons found guilty at all courts or cautioned by age and type of offence 1979 and 1993 England and Wales Thousands Persons aged 10–17 All ages Type of offence 1979 1993 1979 1993 Fraud and forgery 2.8 1.9 22.1 25.5 Criminal damage1 5.3 4.3 11.2 13.5 Drug offences 0.5 7.5 11.9 57.0 Other (excluding motoring)2 1.9 3.8 13.4 40.4 Motoring offences1 3 3.0 0.3 21.8 10.8 Total indicatable 196.5 129.5 508.7 515.5 Summary (excluding motoring) 58.2 38.5 440.3 551.1 All offences (excluding motoring) 254.6 168.0 949.0 1,066.6 1 A number of indicatable offences were reclassified as summary offences following the Criminal Justice Act 1988. 2Offenders found guilty, or cautioned for, "going equipped for stealing etc." were counted against burglary offences until 1986, and against "other" from 1987. Historical data provided in this table have been amended to take account of this change. 3Offenders found guilty only; motoring offence may attract written warnings.
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Table B—Number of persons sentenced to immediate custody at all courts by age and type of offence 1979 and 1993 England and Wales Thousands Persons aged 10–17 All ages Type of offence 1979 1993 1979 1993 Indictable offences Violence against the person1 1.0 0.4 6.9 7.4 Sexual offences 0.1 0.0 1.5 2.0 Burglary2 4.3 1.4 15.4 11.8 Robbery 0.5 0.3 2.3 3.4 Theft and handling stolen goods1 4.9 0.9 22.9 10.1 Fraud and forgery 0.1 0.0 2.8 2.4 Criminal damage1 0.3 0.1 1.4 0.8 Drug offences 0.0 0.0 1.0 3.6 Other (excluding motoring)2 0.2 0.2 1.8 4.0 Motoring offences1 3 0.2 0.1 2.0 1.1 Total indicatable 11.6 3.4 57.9 46.6 Summary (excluding motoring) 0.4 0.4 3.9 3.6 All offences (excluding motoring) 12.0 3.7 61.9 50.2 1 A number of indicatable offences were reclassified as summary offences following the Criminal Justice Act 1988. 2 Offenders found guilty, or cautioned for, "going equipped for stealing etc." were counted against burglary offences until 1986, and against "other" from 1987. Historical data provided in this table have been amended to take account of this change. 3 Offenders found guilty only; motoring offence may attract written warnings.