§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cars have been stolen in each district policing area in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years; and how many vehicles were recovered within seven days and reported as having been stolen for joy-riding or similar purposes. [160289]
§ Mr. IngramIt is only possible to provide the number of recorded offences of theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicles over the past three years. Due to a change in Home Office counting rules, figures prior to 1998 are not comparable. Information on recovery times and the reason for thefts is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Notifiable offences of theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicles 1998–99 to 2000–01 RUC Division 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 A 2,018 2,250 2,785 B 1,798 2,040 2,074 D 1,800 1.711 1,839 E 823 888 936 G 531 637 665 H 485 527 485 J 471 608 547 K 251 254 243 L 312 330 294 N 472 368 343 O 379 280 353 P 375 303 242 Total 9,715 10,196 10,806
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons have been arrested for stealing cars in each Northern Ireland police district in each of the past five years; and how many have been(a) successfully prosecuted and (b) sentenced to a non-custodial sentence. [160290]
§ Mr. IngramThe information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.