§ Mr. LilleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many defendants charged with either-way offences consented to trial in magistrates court and pleaded not guilty in the last 12 months for which figures are available; [19730]
(2) how many defendants charged with either-way offences (a) elected for trial by jury and (b) were directed by magistrates to the Crown court in each year since 1987; [197291
(3) what was the average period (a) between committal to start of trial in Crown courts and (b) from first appearance or mode of trial decision to verdict in
Table A1: Number of defendants who pleaded "Not guilty"2 at the Crown court, who were either convicted or acquitted3 for all offences, England and Wales 1996 to 2000 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Number of defendants who pleaded not guilty 28,434 29,272 30,195 29,802 30,500 Number of defendants who pleaded not guilty who were convicted 11,869 11,592 10,807 10,226 9,864 Number of defendants who pleaded not guilty who were acquitted 14,894 15,843 17,563 17,829 18,955 1 Table excludes the figures of those defendants who pleaded "not guilty" who were not tried (ie bench warrants issued, indictment to lie on file, unfit to plead, defendant died etc). 2 Not guilty plea to the principal offence. 3 Acquitted—includes not guilty, no evidence offered, charge withdrawn, judge rules no case to answer.
Table B: Number of triable either-way cases and all other cases1 that were committed for sentence to the Crown court after trial in a magistrates court, England and Wales 1999 and 2000 Defendants committed for sentence Offence type 1999 2000 Triable either-way 19,324 16,445 Others 1,093 851 Total 20,417 17,296 1 Indictable only and summary offences