§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many persons have been (a) charged and (b) convicted of "violence against the person" in Northern Ireland in the current and previous four years and whether they can say how many of those charges were dealt with as "scheduled offences". [HL45]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Dubs)The attached table shows the number of persons proceeded against for offences of violence against the person and the number found guilty for the period 1994 to 31 March 1998 (the most recent date available):
Scheduled and non-scheduled offences Scheduled offences Year Persons proceeded against Persons found guilty Persons proceeded against Persons found guilty 1994 2,078 1,498 134 117 1995 2,279 1,685 148 137 1996 2,177 1,597 33 27 1997 2,049 1,594 42 36 1998 to 31 March 489 368 9 8 Note:
- 1. The computerised records system does not record the number of persons charged. To provide this information would require a large manual check of records across the Province. The table therefore shows the number of persons proceeded against and found guilty for both scheduled and non-scheduled offences.
- 2. This table records the number of persons convicted as distinct from the number of offences; that is, a person may have been charged with more than one such offence but is counted only once.