HC Deb 04 July 2002 vol 388 cc528-9W
Mrs. Brooke

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many cases involving young people as defendants have been thrown out of magistrates courts in each month in(a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001; [588911

(2) what assessment his Department has made of the recent trend in court cases involving young people which (a) are adjourned and (b) do not end in a conviction. [58890]

Hilary Benn

The information requested for 1999 and 2000 is contained in the table, except for statistics of cases that are adjourned which are not collected centrally.

Persons aged 10–17 whose charges were discontinued, discharged, withdrawn or dismissed at magistrates courts, England and Wales, 1999 and 2000, by month
Number of persons
Month Proceedings discontinued1 Discharged Section 62 Charge withdrawn3 Sub-total Charge dismissed4 Total cases not ending in conviction
1999
January 695 216 2,388 3,299 378 3,677
February 794 187 2,210 3,191 359 3,550
March 801 218 2,617 3,636 412 4,048
April 688 175 2,158 3,021 353 3,374
May 681 167 2,122 2,970 336 3,306
June 745 172 2,603 3,520 366 3,886
July 795 166 2,504 3,465 409 3,874
August 704 147 2,275 3,126 327 3,453
September 739 184 2,638 3,561 400 3,961
October 678 189 2,408 3,275 375 3,650
November 716 191 2,765 3,672 451 4,123
December 541 168 2,097 2,806 320 3,126
Total 8,577 2,180 28,785 39,542 4,486 44,028
20001
January 661 200 2,436 3,297 397 3,694
February 681 168 2,550 3,399 422 3,821
March 758 191 2,616 3,565 483 4,048
April 563 193 2,158 2,914 383 3,297
May 619 205 2,600 3,424 419 3,843
June 733 209 2,756 3,698 459 4,157
July 791 193 2,726 3,710 480 4,190
August 756 195 2,876 3,827 472 4,299
September 651 217 2,543 3,411 513 3,924
October 717 214 2,913 3,844 558 4,402
November 773 192 2,960 3,925 545 4,470
December 563 160 2,213 2,936 435 3,371
Total 8,387 2,349 32,296 43,032 5,590 48,622
1 Under section 23(3) Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, adjourned 'sine die' etc.
2 Discharged under section 6 Magistrates Courts Act 1980 (when examining Justices decide that there is insufficient evidence on which to commit the defendant for trial).
3 No evidence offered, not proceeded against or charge withdrawn.
4 Under section 9 Magistrates Courts Act 1980 (when the court, after hearing the evidence, decide the defendant is not guilty).
5 Staffordshire police were only able to submit sample data for one week in each quarter for persons proceeded against in magistrates courts in 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, estimates derived from these data are not robust enough at a monthly level and have been included in the totals only.