§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 11 October (WA 22–24), how many convictions have been obtained in each of the past three years for which figures are available on charges of intimidation, threatening behaviour and actual harm to persons or property arising from such behaviour; and how many of these convictions have arisen from illegal acts by animal rights activists. [HL4379]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)The information contained in the first table is for England and Wales 2000 to 2002 and comes from the Home Office court proceedings database. It gives the number of offenders found guilty at all courts for offences relating to causing harassment, alarm, distress, putting people in fear of violence and harassment under the Public Order Act 1986 and Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
It is not possible from the information collected centrally by the Home Office to determine whether a conviction of actual harm to persons or property arose
20WA
Number of offenders found guilty for certain offences under the "Public Order Act 1986" and "Protection from Harassment Act 1997", England and Wales 2000 to 20021 Offence description Statute 20002 2001 2002 Causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress Public Order Act 1986 Part 1, Sec 4A as amended by Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, Sec 154 651 748 771 Racially aggravated causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress Public Order Act 1986, Sec 4A as amended by Crime & Disorder Act 1998, Sect 31(l)(b) & (4) 407 448 400 Fear or provocation of violence Public Order Act 1986, Sec 4 11,871 11,308 11,261 Racially aggravated fear or provocation of violence Public Order Act 1986, Sec 4 as amended by Crime & Disorder Act 1998, Sec 31(1)(a) & (4) 299 267 361 Harassment, alarm or distress Public Order Act 1986, Sec 5 16,604 15,479 15,952 Racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress Public Order Act 1986, Sec 5 as amended by Crime & Disorder Act 1998, Sec 31(1)(c) & (5) 461 734 710 Putting people in fear of violence Protection from Harassment Act 1997, Sec 4 515 535 585 Racially aggravated putting people in fear of violence Protection from Harrassment Act 1997, Sec 4 as amended by Crime & Disorder Act 1998, Sec32(l)(b) & (4) 59 55 53 Offence of harassment Protection from Harassment Act 1997, Sec 2 2,864 2,704 2,764 Racially aggravated offence of harassment Protection from Harassment Act 1997, Sec 4 as amended by Crime & Disorder Act 1998, Sec 32(l)(a) & (3) 81 102 99 1 These data are on the prinicipal offence basis. 2 Staffordshire Police Force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. from intimidation or threatening behaviour, as the individual circumstances of the offence are not collected. Neither is it possible to identify whether a defendant in any particular case is an animal rights activist.
The information contained in the second table gives the number of offenders found guilty at all courts for offences relating to causing harassment, alarm, distress, putting people in fear of violence and harassment under the Public Order Act 1986 and Protection from Harassment Act 1997, Scotland 2000 to 2002.
The information contained in the third table shows the number of persons convicted at all courts in Northern Ireland from 2000 to 2002 for offences relating to intimidation, threatening behaviour and actual harm under the legislation: Protection of the Person and Property Act (Northern Ireland) 1969; Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 1981; Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987; Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1966; Protection from Harassment (Northern Ireland) Order 1997; and Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001.
As is the case for Home Office, it is not possible from the NIO court proceedings data sets to determine whether a conviction of actual harm to persons or property arose from intimidation or threatening behaviour, as the individual circumstances of the offence are not collected. Neither is it to identify whether a defendant in any particular case is an animal rights activist.
21WA
Number of offenders found guilty for certain offences under the "Public Order Act 1986" and "Protection from Harassment Act 1997", Scotland, 2000–2002"1 Offence description Statute 2000 2001 2002 Breach of non harassment order granted by civil court Protection from Harassment 1997 Act Section 8(1)(A) — 2 — Protection from Harassment 1997 Act Section 8(5)(B) 2 1 1 Protection from Harassment 1997 Act Section 9 5 3 2 Protection from Harassment 1997 Act Section 9(1) 5 4 — Protection from Harassment 1997 Act Section 9(1)(A) 1 4 13 Protection from Harassment 1997 Act Section 9(1)(B) 3 3 7 Public processions etc Public Order Act 1986 Section 18 — 1 1 Race Relations Act Public Order Act 1986 Section 18(1)(A) — 1 — Public Order Act 1986 Section 18(1)(B) — — 1 1 These data are on the prinicipal offence basis.
Number of offenders found guilty of offences relating to intimidation, harassment, threatening behaviour and causing fear Northern Ireland 2000–20021 Offence description Statute 2000 2001 2002 Intimidation residence/occupation Protection of the Person and Property Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 Section 1 &4 12 3 2 Intimidation—person leave employment Protection of the Person and Property Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 Section 1 — 1 — Intimidation to do/refrain from doing an act Protection of the Person and Property Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 Section 1 & 4 2 1 1 Intimidation—witness Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 1969 Article 47(1) — 2 — Harming witness Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 Section 40(1) 1 — 1 Harassment Protection from Harassment (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 Article 3 & 4 17 20 19 Using threatening abusive insulting words of behaviour Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 of Article 19(1) 2 7 1 Displaying anything proactive Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 Article 19(1) — 4 4 Doing a provocative act Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 Article 19(1) — 4 — Causing another to fear violence Protection from Harassment (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 Article 6 4 1 2 Possessing firearm with intent to cause fear of violence Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 Article 17A 4 7 5 1 These data are on the prinicipal offence basis 2 2002 is the most current data available in Northern Ireland.