§ Maria EagleTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what percentage of defendants who elect at committal for a Crown court trial(a) in the Liverpool magistrates court and (b) in England and Wales subsequently plead guilty. [97887]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeI have been asked to reply.
Although statistics on pleas in the Crown court are collected centrally, these do not record whether the defendant elected trial or was directed by magistrates. In England and Wales, the Crown Prosecution Service statistics for 1998 show that 18,500 defendants elected trial in 1998 in addition to 47,185 either-way cases directed to the Crown court by magistrates. During the same period, 76 per cent. of all defendants in either-way cases pleaded guilty before the commencement of the Crown court trial.