§ Mr. Hilary BennTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in respect of the last 12 months for which information is available, what proportion of persons appearing before(a) magistrates courts and (b) Crown courts had no previous convictions. [128023]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeInformation on previous convictions for persons appearing before magistrates courts or the Crown court is not available centrally. However, previous conviction data are available for persons who appeared and were subsequently convicted.
Based on a sample of over 38,000 persons convicted of a standard list offence during 1998, 40 per cent. of persons convicted at magistrates courts and 32 per cent. of persons convicted at the Crown court had no previous convictions.