§ Mr. StinchcombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what evidence he based his statement to the Police Federation on 19 May concerning the proportion of either-way cases in the previous year in which defendants chose to be heard before a jury and the plea was changed to a guilty one. [90754]
§ Mr. BoatengCrown Prosecution Service statistics for 1998 show that 18,500 defendants elected trial in 1998 in addition to 46,800 either-way cases directed to the Crown
80WCourt by magistrates. During the same period 74 per cent. of all defendants pleaded guilty before the commencement of the Crown Court trial.