§ Mr. HoramTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what proportion of the England soccer fans deported from Belgium over the weekend of 17 to 18 June had criminal convictions; [127493]
(2) how many people were stopped at ports, airports and railway stations in efforts to prevent soccer hooligans reaching the Euro 2000 soccer championships; [127489]
(3) how many police officers were deployed in the attempts to stop soccer hooligans reaching Belgium for the Euro 2000 soccer finals; [127491]
(4) how many people had their passports withdrawn or suspended for the duration of the Euro 2000 soccer championships; [127492]
(5) how many British people were prevented by police or court action from getting to the Euro 2000 championships. [127490]
§ Mr. StrawInformation provided by the Dutch and Belgium authorities is currently being analysed by the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS). I understand that, to date, 393 of the 932 England supporters arrested during Euro 2000 have a criminal record. As the hon. Member may be aware, it is estimated that about one third of males in England and Wales have a criminal record by the age of 30.
There are 101 people currently subject to International Football bans, all of whom were required to report to a police station during Euro 2000. Of these 16 people were ordered to surrender their passports during the tournament as a condition of their ban. No data are available on the 397W number of suspected hooligans who were dissuaded from travelling to Euro 2000 as a result of intensive police activity at United Kingdom exit points. But it is known that at least 98 English supporters were refused entry by the Dutch and Belgian authorities.
I regret that it is not possible for operational reasons to say how many police officers were deployed here and overseas as part of the extensive Euro 2000 policing operation.