§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful wildlife protection prosecutions were launched in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by police authority area. [97118]
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§ Mr. Charles ClarkeAvailable information taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database is given in the table.
Number of defendants proceeded 1 against at magistrates courts and convicted 2 at all courts for wildlife offences 3 by type of offence and police force area, 1998 4 Summary offences 5 Indictable offences Police force area Total proceeded against 1 Total convicted 2 Total proceeded against 1 Total convicted 2 Avon and Somerset 118 102 — — Bedfordshire 16 14 — — Cambridgeshire 91 82 1 1 Cheshire 124 97 — — Cleveland 40 37 — — Cumbria 94 85 — — Derbyshire 116 99 — — Devon and Cornwall 129 109 1 — Dorset 56 24 — — Durham 40 38 8 8 Essex 151 129 — — Gloucestershire 79 66 — — Greater Manchester 95 82 1 1 Hampshire 100 82 3 2 Hertfordshire 157 124 — — Humberside 168 146 — — Kent 32 26 — — Lancashire 169 144 3 3 Leicestershire 164 147 — — Lincolnshire 100 91 — — Merseyside 49 41 — — Metropolitan Police6 151 134 5 4 Norfolk 118 113 — — North Yorkshire 165 150 26 25 Northamptonshire 29 27 3 3 Northumbria 100 91 — 1 Nottinghamshire 78 67 — — South Yorkshire 136 122 — — Staffordshire 147 130 — — Suffolk 47 38 — — Surrey 73 67 — — Sussex 175 163 — — Thames Valley 204 191 — — Warwickshire 167 154 5 5 West Mercia 136 122 — — West Midlands 80 70 1 1 West Yorkshire 78 72 — — Wiltshire 60 49 — — Dyfed Powys 110 90 — — Gwent 51 42 — — North Wales 82 63 — — South Wales 66 55 20 18 England and Wales 4,341 3,775 77 72 1 Includes defendants arrested and summoned by the police and those also summoned by others (ie RSPCA or RSPB). 2 Includes defendants proceeded against in earlier years or for other offences. 3 Includes offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Protection of Badgers Act 1992, Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, fishery law; and poaching and gaming laws. 4 Provisional 5 Excludes offences under $13 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and others relating to wildlife offences which cannot be identified separately from other summary offences. 6 Includes City of London.