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Written question asked by Philip Hollobone (Conservative) on Wednesday, 15 November 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 21 November 2006. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Monday, 4 December 2006 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Protection of Animals Act

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many successful prosecutions have been brought under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 in the last 30 years; and how many such prosecutions were in relation to the use of fireworks.
Answer

[holding answer 22 November 2006]: I have been asked to reply.The information requested, taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform showing the number of defendants found guilty at all courts for cruelty to animals under the Protection of Animals Act 1911, in England and Wales for the years 1980-2005 are provided in the following table. Data at this level of detail for years prior to 1980 are not available. It is not possible to identify which convictions were related to fireworks as the individual circumstances of these offences are not centrally collected.

Number of defendants prosecuted at magistrates courts and convicted at all courts under the Protection of Animals Act, 1911 England and Wales, 1980-2005¹
Code 108/02 Convictions
1980 720
1981 719
1982 728
1983 747
1984 764
1985 848
1986 875
1987 889
1988 877
1989 895
1990 968
1991 862
1992 926
1993 861
1994 731
1995 754
1996 764
1997 867
1998 889
1999 828
2000 861
2001 754
2002 768
2003 783
2004 787
2005 843
¹ These data are provided on the principal offence basis
Note:
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
Source:
RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
454 c49-50W;454 c49-50W; 100527
Session
2006-07
Transferred
Yes
Subjects
Prosecutions
Legislation
Protection of Animals Act 1911
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk