§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in(a) 1999 and (b) the most recent period for which figures are available (i) how many persons aged over 18 years were (1) charged and (2) convicted of each of the offences listed in Clause 1 of the Criminal Justice and Police Bill, (ii) how many persons aged under 18 years were so (1) charged and (2) convicted, and (iii) what was the average age of those so (1) charged and (2) convicted. [147476]
§ Mr. Charles Clarke[holding answer 26 January 2001]: Information on the number of persons charged is not available centrally.
However, available information taken from the Home Office court proceedings database on the number of persons prosecuted or convicted is given in the tables.
175WThe 'average' age of defendants prosecuted or offenders convicted cannot be determined for summary offences because unreported ages or dates of birth, or incompatible ages for sentences given, are converted to
Table A: Number of defendants proceeded against at the magistrates courts and convicted at all courts for offences as listed in Clause 1 of the Criminal Justice and Police Bill by age, England and Wales, 1999 Age and offence description Total proceeded against Total convicted Aged under 181 Section 12 of the Licensing Act 1872 71 52 Section 80 of the Explosives Act 1875 15 9 Section 31 of the Fire Services Act 1947 19 16 Sections 55 and 56 of the British Transport Commission Act-not available separately 243 178 Section 169c(3) of the Licensing Act 1964 1 — Section 91 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 2,473 1,698 Section 5(2) of the Criminal Law Act 1967 4 4 Section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971-summary only 9,323 6,092 Section 43 of the Telecommunications Act 1984-subsection l.b not available separately 123 75 Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986-excludes offence of racially aggravated (this section as. amended by Crime and Disorder Act) 4,047 2,500 Aged 18 and over1 Section 12 of the Licensing Act 1872 3,442 3,082 Section 80 of the Explosives Act 1875 26 17 Section 31 of the Fire Services Act 1947 57 47 Sections 55 and 56 of the British Transport Commission Act-not available separately 1,664 1,327 Section 169c(3) of the Licensing Act 1964 5 3 Section 91 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 28,579 23,174 Section 5(2) of the Criminal law Act 1967, 69 49 Section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971-summary only 31,297 21,796 Section 43 of the Telecommunications Act 1984-subsection l.b not available separately 1,110 645 Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986-excludes offence of racially aggravated (this section as amended by Crime and Disorder Act) 20,851 14,452 1 Information received concerning summary offences does not always record the age or date of birth of the defendant. As such, these data are estimated to be aged 25 on the Home Office court proceedings database.
176W
Table B: Number of defendants proceeded against at the magistrates courts and convicted at all courts for offences as listed in Clause 1 of the Criminal Justice and Police Bill by age, England and Wales, Ql 20001 Age and offence description Total proceeded against Total convicted Aged under 181 Section 12 of the Licensing Act 1872 13 13 Section 80 of the Explosives Act 1875 9 6 Section 31 of the Fire Services Act 1947 3 2 Sections 55 and 56 of the British Transport Commission Act-not available separately 46 34 Section 169c(3) of the Licensing Act 1964 — — Section 91 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 563 431 Section 5(2) of the Criminal Law Act 1967 2 1 Section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971-summary only 2,529 1,734 Section 43 of the Telecommunications Act 1984-subsection l.b not available separately 28 23 Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986-excludes offence of racially aggravated (this section as amended by Crime and Disorder Act) 1,023 691 Aged 18 and over1 Section 12 of the Licensing Act 1872 629 563 Section 80 of the Explosives Act 1875 19 14 Section 31 of the Fire Services Act 1947 17 13 Sections 55 and 56 of the British Transport Commission Act-not available separately 359 283 Section 169c(3) of the Licensing Act 1964 1 1 Section 91 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 6,446 5,083 Section 5(2) of the Criminal law Act 1967 29 24 Section 191) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971-summary only 8,036 5,682 Section 43 of the Telecommunications Act 1984-subsection l.b not available separately 226 137 Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986-excludes offence of racially aggravated (this section as amended by Crime and Disorder Act) 5,657 3,416 1 Provisional 2 Information received concerning summary offences does not always record the age or date of birth of the defendant. As such, these data are estimated to be aged 25 on the Home Office court proceedings database. age 25 on the court proceedings database. However, it is possible to make approximate calculations of the 'median' age from the figures available (Where an age has been given).These are shown in Table C.
177W
Table C: Median age1 of defendants proceeded against at the magistrates courts and convicted at all courts for offences as listed in Clause 1 of the Criminal Justice and Police Bill by age, England and Wales, 1999 and Q1 20002 1999 Ql 20002 Age and offence description Prosecution Conviction Prosecution Conviction Section 12 of the Licensing Act 1872 39 39 390 39 Section 80 of the Explosives Act 1875 19 18 18 18 Section 31 of the Fire Services Act 1947 23 22 28 28 Sections 55 and 56 of the British Transport Commission Act-not available separately 22 22 22 22 Section 169c(3) of the Licensing Act 1964 18 18 35 35 Section 91 of the Criminal Justice Act 1967 26 26 26 26 Section 5(2) of the Criminal Law Act 1967 29 29 29 29 Section 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971-summary only 23 23 22 22 Section 43 of the Telecommunications Act 1984-subsection l.b not available separately 31 30 31 28 Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986-excludes offence of racially aggravated (this section as amended by Crime and Disorder Act) 24 24 22 22 1 Information received concerning summary offences does not always record the age or date of birth of the defendant. As such, these data are estimated to be aged 25 on the Home Office court proceedings database 2 Provisional