§ Mr. LilleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) hove many either-way offences were dealt with by magistrates in each year since 1987; of these how many were(a) committed to the Crown court for sentence and (b) committed for trial by Crown court; and in how many of these was mode of trial (i) elected by the defendant and (ii) referred for trial where the magistrate declined jurisdiction; [151818]
(2) how many defendants in either-way cases pleaded (a) guilty and (b) not guilty in (i) cases dealt with by the magistrates court, (ii) cases referred for trial by Crown court on election by the defendant and (iii) cases referred for trial by the Crown court where the magistrate declined jurisdiction in each year since 1987; [151819]
(3) how many either-way offences were committed to trial in the Crown court in each year since 1996, showing the proportion of elected cases to all either-way cases committed for trial in the Crown court. [151820]
25W
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Home Office court proceedings database does not contain information on whether defendants elect Crown court trial or are directed for trial there, nor does it contain details on defendants' pleas at magistrates courts. The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for triable either-way offences in England and Wales for the years 1987 to 1999 are shown in Table A, together with details of those committed for trial or sentence. Table B shows details of plea entered by defendants committed for trial on triable either-way offences at tf e Crown court in England and Wales for the years 1996to 1999.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not separately record plea by type of offence at magistrates courts, but does record defendants finalised at the Crown court who elected for Crown court trial. Table C, from CPS statistics for the years 1992 to 2000, shows the proportion of defendants committed for trial to the Crown court in England and Wales for either-way offences who elected Crown court trial.
Table A: Defendants proceeded against for triable either-way offences at magistrates courts in England and Wales, and those committed for trial or sentence, 1987 to 1999 Year Defendants proceeded against Defendants committed for trial Defendants committed for sentence 1987 468,900 95,600 5,800 1988 473,300 95,100 6,100 1989 425,900 82,000 5,500 1990 444,500 82,000 6,200 1991 462,400 82,600 7,100 1992 462,000 74,900 5,900 1993 449,600 66,600 3,600 1994 466,800 69,500 3,600 1995 434,100 61,100 3,700 1996 432,600 61,200 4,400 1997 454,400 66,500 6,800 1998 477,500 52,000 18,200 1999 479,900 51,000 19,300
Table B: Defendants committed for trial for triable either-way offences to the Crown court in England and Wales, by plea, 1996 to 1999 Year Defendants pleading guilty Defendants pleading not guilty 1996 46,500 21,300 1997 51,000 21,900 1998 40,000 22,200 1999 35,900 21,900 26W
Table C: Crown Prosecution Statistics—Percentage of either-way cases committed to the Crown court in which the defendant has elected Crown court trial, England and Wales, 1987 to 2000 Year Percentage of triable either-way defendants electing to be committed for trial 19871 52 1988 45 1989 42 1990 38 1991 37 1992 37 1993 35 1994 35 1995 33
Table C: Crown Prosecution Statistics—Percentage of either-way cases committed to the Crown court in which the defendant has elected Crown court trial, England and Wales, 1987 to 2000 Year Percentage of triable either-way defendants electing to be committed for trial 1996 32 1997 28 1998 28 1999 32 2000 30 1 Data available for April to December only