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Written question asked by Stephen Hepburn (Labour) on Wednesday, 21 May 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 2 June 2008. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 3 June 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Offensive Weapons

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted of knife crime offences in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside and (c) the North East in each year since 1997.
Answer

Information on the number of persons found guilty at all courts for the illegal possession of knives in a public place and on school premises, in the North East region of England and Wales from 1997-2006, are provided in the following table. Information on convictions in (a) Jarrow constituency and (b) South Tyneside cannot be provided as the data held by the Ministry of Justice are not held at that level of detail.The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.The data provided do not cover persons found guilty of 'other' crimes involving the use of a knife, for example assault or threatening behaviour. Court data held by the Ministry of Justice do not include the circumstances behind each case; therefore it is not possible to identify all offences involving knives.

Number of persons found guilty at all courts for offences relating to the illegal possession of knives in public¹, North East region 1997-2006², ³
Found guilty
1997 134
1998 162
1999 180
2000 185
2001 230
2002 316
2003 317
2004 360
2005 376
2006 384
¹ Includes the offences of having an article with a blade or point on school premises under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 S 139 and having an article with a blade or point in a public place under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 S 139a.
² These data are on the principal offence basis.
³ 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 the courts and 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.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
476 c886-7W;476 c884-5W; 207805
Session
2007-08
Subjects
Offensive weapons North East
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk