§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been killed as a result of the use of plastic or rubber bullets by the security forces in Northern Ireland since 1970. [60287]
§ Mr. IngramRecords show that 16 deaths have resulted from the use of rubber and plastic baton rounds since 1970.
§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been injured as a result of the use of plastic or rubber bullets by the security forces in Northern Ireland since March 1981. [60284]
§ Mr. IngramRecords indicate that 594 persons have been injured from the use of plastic baton rounds since March 1981.
§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Royal Ulster Constabulary(a) first and (b) last used rubber bullets; in which years since 1968 it used rubber bullets; and how many rubber bullets it used in each of those years.[60285]
§ Mr. IngramThe first rubber baton rounds were fired by the Army in August 1970 with the last fired in November 1975. Plastic baton rounds were phased in from 1973. The RUC were first issued with baton guns in October 1978. The table shows the number of rounds fired since 1970.
742W
Year Police Army Total 1970 — 238 — 1971 — 16,752 — 1972 — 23,363 — 1973 — 12,766 — 1974 — 2,828 — 1975 — 3,701 — 1976 — 3,464 — 1977 — 1,490 — 1978 1— 1,743 — 1979 1— 1,271 — 1980 1— 1,231 — 1981 19,649 9,952 — 1982 335 154 — 1983 545 116 — 1984 1,503 265 — 1985 906 266 — 1986 1,462 325 — 1987 1,908 663 — 1988 2,292 817 — 1989 836 101 — 1990 211 46 — 1991 235 88 — 1992 39 49 — 1993 497 26 — 1994 214 35 — 1995 273 0 —
Year Police Army Total 1996 6,949 1,387 — 1997 2,527 429 — 1998 (to 15 Nov) 820 62 — Totals 41,201 83,628 124,829 1 Police and Army Notes:
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- 1. There are no figures separating police and Army firings prior to 1981. Up to 1978 all baton rounds were fired by the Army. From October 1978 to March 1981 the figures shown include both police and Army.
- 2. The Army figures for 1997 and the RUC figures for 1998 may be subject to minor adjustment.
- 3. The figures for the years 1973, 1974 and 1975 include 42,216 and 3,556 plastic baton rounds respectively.
- 4. The dramatic increase in 1981 can be put down to the heavy rioting in support of the hunger strikers who died that year.