§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Solicitor-General how many cases of child abuse were referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions; how many of these proceeded to prosecution; and how many convictions were secured, in each of the last three years. [148150]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe Crown Prosecution Service holds no central records in relation to particular offences. The information is held on individual case files, and could be obtained only by examining every relevant file in each CPS office. The costs of such an exercise would be prohibitive.
However, records kept by the Home Office show that the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted for child abuse offences (which has a wide definition) was as follows:
Prosecutions Convictions 1997 4,255 3,458 1998 4,938 3,412 1999 5,184 3,519