§ Mr WillsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of prosecutions on the charge of manslaughter have resulted in a conviction in each of the last three years; [19248]
698W(2) what percentage of prosecutions on the charge of causing death by reckless driving have resulted in a conviction in each of the last three years. [19328]
§ Mr. MichaelData are not available on the basis of prosecutions. However, the numbers of defendants convicted of these offences as a percentage of defendants tried at the Crown Court for those offences plus those proceeded against in magistrates' courts for these offences whose cases were discontinued, withdrawn or otherwise abandoned in each of the last three years are as follows:
Per cent. Offence 1994 1995 1996 Causing death by reckless driving 87 85 89 Manslaughter1 91 85 85 1 Includes offences under sections 5, 9 and 10 of the Common Law and Offences against the Person Act 1861 and section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957. The difference between numbers of defendants prosecuted and those tried or proceeded against by type of offence is that defendants may be prosecuted for a more serious offence but convicted of a lesser offence, and the data on court proceedings collected by the Home Office record the offence for which (a) cases against defendants are discontinued or (b) defendants are either acquitted or found guilty.