§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the differences are in the criteria by which an offence is considered to be(a) cleared up and (b) brought to justice. [109586]
§ Ms BlearsThe term cleared up is used when an individual has been charged, cautioned, reprimanded, or received a final warning for a notifiable offence or offences in relation to a crime, or when such an offence has been accepted for consideration in court. A crime may also be counted as cleared up when no further action is taken on an offence for one of the following reasons:
- the offender, victim or an essential witness is dead or too ill;
- the victim refuses or is unable to give evidence;
- the offender is under the age of criminal responsibility;
- the Police or Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decide that no useful purpose would be served by proceeding; or
- the time limit of six months for commencing prosecution, where applicable, has been exceeded.
A notifiable offence is considered to have been brought to justice if the outcome is a conviction, caution, Penalty Notice for Disorder, or it is taken into consideration at court.
§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many shoplifting offences were committed in Romford in(a) 2002 and (b) each of the last 10 years. [128375]
§ Paul GogginsThe available information is contained in the table:
Persons1 aged 10–17 and 18–20 convicted in the Petty Sessional Area of Havering2, 1992–2001 Persons aged 10–17 Persons aged 18–20 All young offenders 1992 178 505 683 1993 171 609 780 1994 156 480 636 1995 N/a N/a N/a 1996 201 518 719 1997 252 481 733 1998 292 409 701 1999 269 473 742 2000 222 466 688 2001 286 481 767 1A person convicted on more than one occasion during a year will be counted separately on each occasion.
2 Court sits at Romford. Figures include those convicted at the Crown Court, having been committed for trial from Havering PSA.
Statistics for 2002 will be available in December.