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Suicide: Drugs

Answer

Neither the Home Office nor Ministry of Justice collect data on suicides in the general population.Information available centrally on killings relates to homicides recorded by the police in England and Wales for each year between 1997-98 and 2005-06 where the principal suspect was known to be intoxicated at the time of the offence, and is shown in the following table. However, as this is based on information notified to the Home Office, rather than the actual case files held by the police or the court records, it may understate the true position.

Table 1: Offence currently recorded¹ as homicide by intoxication level of principal suspect²: Lancashire police, 1997-98 to 2006-07³,4
Percentage
	Principal suspect drink drug level at time of homicide²
Year recorded³	Been drinking alcohol	Taken an illicit drug	Both drinking alcohol and taking an illicit drug
1997-98	13.0	0	4.3
1998-99	13.6	0	0
1999-2000	6.3	0	0
2000-01	3.4	0	6.9
2001-02	11.8	0	5.9
2002-03	11.5	0	0
2003-04	18.5	0	0
2004-05	17.2	0	0
2005-06	8.3	0	8.3
2006-07	30.4	0	0
¹ As at 12 November 2007; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available.
² From the information supplied to the Home Office, the principal suspect is known to have been intoxicated at the time of the offence. These may include cases where drink/drugs was not the primary factor. The figures are affected by recording changes, most notably in 2001-02 when some forces made use of a new notification system.
³ Offences are shown according to the year in which police initially recorded the offence as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the incident took place or the year in which any court decision was made.
4 Data for 2007-08 are not yet published.

Table 2: Offences currently recorded¹ as homicide by intoxication level of principal suspect²: North West region³,1997-98 to 2006-074,5
Percentage
	Principal suspect drink drug level at time of homicide²
Year recorded4	Been drinking alcohol	Taken an illicit drug	Both drinking alcohol and taking an illicit drug
1997-98	5.8	1.0	1.0
1998-99	6.7	0	0.8
1999-2000	6.5	0	0
2000-01	3.5	0.9	1.8
2001-02	9.8	0.8	1.5
2002-03	6.8	0.3	1.0
2003-04	13.8	0.7	2.0
2004-05	11.8	2.1	2.1
2005-06	6.7	1.0	1.9
2006-07	15.3	0.9	1.8
¹ As at 12 November 2007; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available.
² From the information supplied to the Home Office, the principal suspect is known to have been intoxicated at the time of the offence. These may include cases where drink/drugs was not the primary factor. The figures are affected by recording changes, most notably in 2001-02 when some forces made use of a new notification system.
³ Includes the police forces: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside.
4 Offences are shown according to the year in which police initially recorded the offence as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the incident took place or the year in which any court decision was made.
5 Data for 2007-08 are not yet published.

Table 3: Offences currently recorded¹ as homicide by intoxication level of principal suspect²: England³,1997-98 to 2006-074,5
Percentage
	Principal suspect drink drug level at time of homicide²
Year recorded4	Been drinking alcohol	Taken an illicit drug	Both drinking alcohol and taking an illicit drug
1997-98	8.9	0.5	1.0
1998-99	7.0	0.6	1.1
1999-2000	4.7	0.8	0.9
2000-01	5.6	0.8	0.8
2001-02	12.4	1.9	1.8
2002-03	12.4	2.1	2.2
2003-04	16.0	2.1	3.2
2004-05	13.2	2.0	4.4
2005-06	10.6	1.2	2.3
2006-07	13.7	1.6	2.9
¹ As at 12 November 2007; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available.
² From the information supplied to the Home Office, the principal suspect is known to have been intoxicated at the time of the offence. These may include cases where drink/drugs was not the primary factor. The figures are affected by recording changes, most notably in 2001-02 when some forces made use of a new notification system.
³ Excludes offences recorded by British Transport Police.
4 Offences are shown according to the year in which police initially recorded the offence as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the incident took place or the year in which any court decision was made.
5 Data for 2007-08 are not yet published.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

213568; 478 c729-31W;478 c731-3W

Session

2007-08

Subjects

Drugs Suicide North West

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk