Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Peter Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party) on Thursday, 8 June 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 12 June 2006. It was answered by Paul Goggins (Labour) on Wednesday, 13 September 2006 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Vandalism

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many instances of vandalism were reported in (a) Castlereagh and (b) East Belfast district command unit in each year since 1990.
Answer

Crime statistics collated by the PSNI do not record a specific offence of ‘vandalism’. There are a number of offences categorized under criminal damage and these are shown in the following tables, and cover the years from 1998-99 to 2005-06. Due to a change in Home Office counting rules in April 1998, statistics prior to that date belong to a different statistical series and are not comparable.

Castlereagh district command unit
1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
Arson 28 23 41 92 71 43 46 60
Petrol bombing offences 4 0 1 0 2 0 0 0
Explosives offences 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Criminal damage/malicious damage 670 874 866 1,207 910 784 738 889
Other 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 1
Total criminal damage 704 897 908 1,301 983 827 786 950
East Belfast district command unit
1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06
Arson 72 93 89 101 130 121 81 92
Petrol bombing offences 8 3 6 6 10 2 2 3
Explosives offences 0 0 4 3 15 0 5 4
Criminal damage/malicious damage 1,760 1,821 1,954 2,101 2,174 1,440 1,289 1,484
Other 1 1 2 7 7 12 18 24
Total criminal damage 1,841 1,918 2,055 2,218 2,336 1,575 1,395 1,607

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
77376; 449 c2412-4W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Belfast Northern Ireland Vandalism
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk