§ Miss WiddecombeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) murders and 315W (b) other homicides were committed in England and Wales, broken down by specific offence, in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [152748]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe available information relates to initially recorded offences of homicide (murder, manslaughter and infanticide) in England and Wales and is given in the table. Those offences subsequently decided at court to be murder, manslaughter and infanticide are
Convicted of homicide2 Year Offences initially recorded as homicide1 Total Murder Section 2 manslaughter Other manslaughter Infanticide 1990 661 443 186 70 183 4 1991 725 502 197 76 224 5 1992 681 504 215 78 205 6 1993 675 501 224 62 210 5 1994 727 491 228 69 191 3 1995 753 553 272 54 224 3 1996 679 530 258 50 218 4 1997 735 499 247 46 203 3 1997–98 731 506 228 47 227 4 1998–99 745 490 241 38 204 7 1999–2000 761 232 121 13 98 — 1 A separate offence is recorded for each victim of homicide, so that in an incident in which several people are killed, the number of homicides counted is the total number of persons killed. 2 As at 11 September 2000; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. The initially recorded figure includes all homicides because when an offence is discovered and recorded by the police, it is not generally known whether an offence of murder, manslaughter or infanticide has been committed.