§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons lost their lives in conflict-related incidents in each year since 1973 and were the subject of a murder investigation conducted by the police; how many murders in each year were eventually the subject of a successful prosecution; and how many unsolved murders remain from each year. [118960]
§ Jane KennedyThe information cannot be provided in the format requested. Table A provides the number of murders for each year since 1973 and the number of these murders where persons have subsequently been charged. Table B provides the number of convictions for murders in each year since 1993. We are unable to provide data prior to 1993 as to do so would require a substantial manual exercise and would incur a disproportionate cost. 343W
Table A: Security situation statistics for Northern Ireland, 1973–9 June 2003 Number of persons murdered Murders for which persons have been charged 1973 200 65 1974 187 76 1975 221 101 1976 266 107 1977 100 47 1978 70 30 1979 108 38 1980 65 25 1981 83 35 1982 85 39 1983 67 29 1984 49 10 1985 48 20 1986 55 7 1987 82 20 1988 84 30 1989 57 20 1990 68 19 1991 88 27 1992 79 23 1993 82 35 1994 61 18 1995 9 2 1996 14 5 1997 20 9 1998 54 11 1999 7 2 2000 18 3 2001 16 4 2002 12 1 20031 7 1 Total 2,362 859 1 To 9 June Note:
Statistics for 2002 and 2003 are provisional and may be subject to minor adjustment.
Table B: Victims of murders linked to the security situation: Number of instances where murder or other convictions have been
secured by year of incident 1993–2002
1Number of victims where person (s) have been convicted of murder Person(s) have been convicted of lesser offence2 1993 24 2 1994 7 6 1995 1 0 19963 0 2 1997 4 0 1998 6 1 1999 0 1 2000 1 3 20014 0 1 2002 0 0 Total 43 16 1 Figures relate to cases where police have initially charged at least one suspect with murder. All cases have been heard in Belfast crown court in a Diplock trial. 2 For example, manslaughter, conspiracy to murder, aiding and abetting murder etc. 3 Suspect(s) have been committed for trial with respect to a further two victims—case pending. 4 Suspect(s) have been committed for trial with respect to a further victim—case pending