HC Deb 10 February 1997 vol 290 c15W
Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Attorney-General (1) how many occasions, in the last year for which figures are available, the Crown Prosecution Service acted on the suggestion of a defendant that in exchange for pleading guilty to the charge of careless and inconsiderate driving, proceedings against the defendant on the charge of causing death by dangerous driving would be dropped; [14881]

(2) if he will list the number of occasions in the past five years on which drivers who have caused a driving-related fatality have been charged with the offence of careless and inconsiderate driving in place of causing death by dangerous driving by the Crown Prosecution Service in order to ensure that a conviction is obtained; [14877]

(3) how many occasions, in the last year for which figures are available, the Crown Prosecution Service offered defendants the opportunity to enter a guilty plea to the charge of careless and inconsiderate driving in substitution for proceeding against the defendant on the indictment of causing death by dangerous driving. [14880]

The Attorney-General

Charges in any particular case should reflect the seriousness of the offending and should give the court adequate sentencing powers. The selection of charges is governed by the evidential and public interest criteria contained in the code for Crown prosecutors; and prosecutors are assisted in relation to offences of the nature mentioned by the hon. Member by the driving offences charging standard adopted in March 1996 by the Crown Prosecution Service in agreement with the Association of Chief Police Officers.

Where the Crown Prosecution Service subsequently decides not to pursue all the charges originally preferred, this will usually be because changed circumstances have made it impracticable to proceed or have brought about a revised assessment of the evidential or public interest test.

Detailed information of the nature sought by the hon. Member is recorded only on individual case files and is not collected or collated centrally. It could therefore be made available only at disproportionate cost.