§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms have been misappropriated over the last five years from(a) the police, (b) the Ministry of Defence police, (c) the Atomic Energy Authority police and (d) the armed forces. [108825]
§ Mr. Charles Clarke[pursuant to the reply, 10 February 2000, c. 249–50W]: Information on the misappropriation of firearms from the police service is not collected centrally, but inquiries of 41 police forces in England, Wales and Scotland indicate that firearms have been misappropriated from the police in only one incident over the past five years.
On 24 January 1997, an MP5 carbine was misappropriated when the police vehicle in which it was carried was hijacked by armed criminals. The vehicle and the weapon were recovered two days later.
No firearms are recorded as having been misappropriated from the Ministry of Defence Police or the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary during the period concerned.
The Ministry of Defence have confirmed that the firearms in the following table have been misappropriated from the armed services in mainland Great Britain over the past five years. Their figures run from 1 April to 31 March. Figures in parenthesis are those weapons subsequently recovered by the authorities.
Firearm 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 5.56mm rifle 0 9(8) 11(1) 1(1) 3(1) 9mm pistol 2 7(3) 1 1 1 .22in rifle 0 7(3) 1 0 0 .77in Air Rifle 0 6 11 0 0 1 This weapon was misappropriated by a soldier and used in a murder. Recovered immediately afterwards when soldier was arrested.