HC Deb 25 May 2000 vol 350 cc622-3W
Mr. Cox

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) men and (b) women have been convicted and imprisoned for possession of child pornography in England and Wales during the last 12 months. [123377]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The available information, taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database, is given in the table.

Number of persons convicted and sentenced to immediate custody at all courts for child pornography offences by sex, England and Wales, 1998–991
Total convicted Total given immediate custody2
Take, make, distribute, show, possess with intent to distribute or show, publish any advertisement conveying the distribution of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children3
1998
M 82 37
F 0 1
19991
M 130 55
F 3 1
Possession of an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child4
1998
M 104 32
F 1
19991
M 95 23
F 2
1Provisional
2Persons sentenced at the Crown Court may have been convicted in an earlier year at the magistrates' court
3Protection of Children Act 1978 Section 1 and 6 as amended by the Criminal Justice and public order Act 1994, section 84
4Criminal Justice Act 1988 section 160 as amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, sections 84(4) and 86(1)