§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) indictable and (b) either way offences were tried at the Crown court in each of the last five years for which figures are available indicating for each year (i) what proportion of either-way offences reached the Crown court (A) by the defendant electing jury trial and (B) on the direction of the magistrates, (ii) what proportion of trials for each type of offence resulted in a guilty verdict after a plea of not guilty, (iii) what proportion of trials for each type of offence resulted in a guilty plea and (iv) what proportion of trials for each type of offence resulted in an acquittal. [123861]
§ Mr. Charles Clarke[holding answer 25 May 2000]: Official statistics do not include separate information on plea for those who elect Crown court trial. The available information is contained in the following tables:
Number of cases finalised at the Crown court by type of indictable case, committal and year, 1994–98—England and Wales Triable-either-way (TEW) Defendant elected Direction of magistrate Year Indictable only Number of cases Percentage of TEW cases Number of cases Percentage of TEW cases 1994 19,237 25,178 35 46,258 65 1995 21,779 26,114 33 53,210 67 1996 23,993 22,870 32 48,748 68 1997 26,546 21,783 28 56,021 72 1998 26,918 18,537 28 46,835 72 1999 27,721 18,969 32 40,378 68 Source:
Crown Prosecution Service
370W
Proportion of defendants tried at the Crown court by type of indictable offence and plea, 1994–981—England and Wales Percentage Not guilty plea Year Guilty plea Convicted Acquitted Indictable only offence2 19941 — — 26 19951 53 22 26 1996 55 20 25 1997 54 21 25 1998 53 18 29 Triable-either-way offence2 19941 — — 18 19951 68 14 18 1996 70 13 17 1997 71 12 17 1998 66 13 21 Total 19941 — — 20 19951 66 15 19 1996 67 15 18 1997 68 13 18 1998 63 14 23 1Data by plea are available only from July 1995 2Based on the defendant's principle offence Source:
Home Office Court Proceedings Database