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Alcoholic Drinks: Antisocial Behaviour

Answer

The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates court for the offences of (i) being drunk and disorderly (ii) being drunk on a highway, public place or on licensed premises and (iii) being drunk in or when entering a designated sports event can be found in the following tables. Data has been broken down by police force area in England and Wales from 1997 to 2006.The arrests collection held by the Ministry of Justice covers persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only. Details of the circumstances of an arrest are not collected centrally. Summary offences of 'being drunk and disorderly' are non-notifiable and as a result are not covered by the collection.

Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts for selected alcohol related offences, broken down by police force area, England and Wales, 1997 to 2006¹, ²
	Any person who in any public place is guilty, while drunk, of disorderly behaviour³
Force	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Avon and Somerset	361	374	383	363	399	408	427	371	226	187
Bedfordshire	166	314	220	186	187	197	219	136	84	80
Cambridgeshire	122	144	159	148	151	154	189	167	169	132
Cheshire	586	714	652	590	563	648	652	505	84	111
City of London	26	31	54	43	44	53	70	53	51	61
Cleveland	774	707	708	684	621	630	715	631	205	95
Cumbria	808	812	802	521	558	514	525	471	328	322
Derbyshire	294	286	231	254	292	357	425	342	211	228
Devon and Cornwall	888	771	709	704	817	895	672	477	365	480
Dorset	272	390	343	406	469	551	520	166	98	87
Durham	406	504	491	538	563	541	603	406	378	286
Essex	515	490	553	584	513	409	194	204	183	255
Gloucestershire	147	200	153	158	164	180	201	139	62	44
Greater Manchester	1,415	1,307	1,206	1,215	1,067	1,005	965	505	260	183
Hampshire	1,270	1,393	1,306	1,133	1,072	1,117	977	590	455	251
Hertfordshire	296	337	388	381	406	508	449	365	255	79
Humberside	250	225	255	234	247	213	213	127	163	138
Kent	560	720	865	900	911	928	1,107	1,118	532	436
Lancashire	1,618	1,673	1,827	2,165	2,366	2,210	2,180	908	615	560
Leicestershire	27	27	37	24	26	26	19	18	12	16
Lincolnshire	478	624	584	458	506	528	556	484	70	60
Merseyside	2,967	2,940	2,151	1,979	1,926	2,118	2,039	1,348	692	765
Metropolitan Police	1,449	1,550	1,440	1,219	1,494	2,464	2,466	1,182	908	1,104
Norfolk	108	114	115	131	146	151	183	94	58	51
North Yorkshire	342	382	411	459	482	452	512	195	202	212
Northamptonshire	26	24	21	29	33	29	25	32	41	31
Northumbria	3,122	3,567	3,548	3,859	3,516	3,587	3,944	3,939	4,532	4,352
Nottinghamshire	563	570	526	482	529	507	501	261	224	262
South Yorkshire	1,186	968	1,148	1,264	1,248	1,271	1,497	1,204	551	544
Staffordshire	320	305	247	4—	215	251	343	223	209	160
Suffolk	269	212	213	228	267	333	357	337	217	201
Surrey	208	208	280	412	473	477	439	289	247	121
Sussex	522	512	398	512	631	733	801	474	266	371
Thames Valley	1,086	1,305	1,161	979	997	979	1,090	895	282	232
Warwickshire	309	666	286	228	195	125	162	111	27	35
West Mercia-	654	574	561	488	543	-455	413	483	516	437
West Midlands	1,102	846	522	472	437	463	307	531	373	797
West Yorkshire	2,655	2,764	3,097	2,809	2,101	2,071	2,260	714	687	1,384
Wiltshire	370	426	267	275	262	284	426	290	147	105
Dyfed-Powys	200	198	153	145	162	173	223	214	162	122
Gwent	748	532	420	360	308	273	207	263	238	209
North Wales	824	1,006	949	799	839	669	545	436	220	222
South Wales	1,582	1,583	1,212	1,162	998	802	725	903	737	335
England and Wales	31,891	33.295	31,052	29,980	29,744	30,739	31,343	22,601	16,342	16,143
¹ These data are on the principal offence basis.
² 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. 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.
³ Includes 'Criminal Justice Act 1967 Sec.91.
4 Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level.

Being found drunk in a highway or other public place whether a building or not, or a licensed premise¹
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Avon and Somerset	62	65	94	83	74	86	85	93	97	81
Bedfordshire	54	153	96	52	31	20	48	28	31	17
Cambridgeshire	37	31	39	46	51	51	71	48	55	59
Cheshire	73	63	50	36	18	24	26	13	3	19
City of London	5	1	1	7	1	—	—	2	—	1
Cleveland	4	13	—	2	3	2	3	4	3	5
Cumbria	43	42	25	14	18	16	9	24	21	19
Derbyshire	38	43	47	64	60	53	40	11	6	8
Devon and Cornwall	284	300	332	249	216	228	185	106	77	81
Dorset	13	15	18	29	12	13	15	11	4	—
Durham	24	39	38	22	45	22	7	8	16	14
Essex	230	209	173	137	117	53	12	15	5	10
Gloucestershire	53	90	57	34	35	34	20	14	14	17
Greater Manchester	7	15	12	6	9	4	11	6	7	3
Hampshire	355	488	350	240	166	131	77	58	55	22
Hertfordshire	21	47	66	43	32	21	18	19	14	1
Humberside	12	13	14	6	5	6	5	2	1	—
Kent	157	148	148	148	144	154	154	123	58	47
Lancashire	216	222	191	249	186	181	71	37	45	16
Leicestershire	—	1	6	5	—	3	1	1	1	1
Lincolnshire	36	51	27	26	15	16	10	9	3	4
Merseyside	50	56	40	36	41	33	19	13	8	8
Metropolitan Police	263	289	251	172	316	191	150	119	128	100
Norfolk	66	66	68	68	58	58	72	40	27	14
North Yorkshire	82	95	87	136	138	146	120	59	37	32
Northamptonshire	7	6	6	7	1	9	3	5	3	4
Northumbria	25	34	48	32	22	21	16	34	36	47
Nottinghamshire	2	12	7	6	11	9	12	—	4	3
South Yorkshire	19	17	22	33	14	9	6	13	5	2
Staffordshire	82	71	41	²—	17	17	37	41	43	39
Suffolk	108	81	97	72	53	61	57	66	27	29
Surrey	92	97	108	121	122	83	88	93	89	75
Sussex	226	226	130	81	130	102	88	44	56	82
Thames Valley	215	247	207	173	145	123	128	98	51	51
Warwickshire	8	99	17	9	7	7	6	2	1	—
West Mercia	99	65	78	20	23	10	6	10	10	10
West Midlands	61	53	31	21	12	9	26	22	46	52
West Yorkshire	53	107	73	71	29	37	92	76	35	44
Wiltshire	68	73	66	52	60	53	50	66	80	72
Dyfed-Powys	93	153	134	138	77	72	78	63	37	66
Gwent	21	25	21	25	38	50	25	11	7	2
North Wales	17	18	15	8	4	9	9	1	3	7
South Wales	114	243	251	252	229	206	218	207	213	76
England and Wales	3,495	4,182	3,582	3,031	2,785	2,433	2,174	1,715	1,462	1,240
¹ Includes all under S12 of the Licensing Act 1872.
(a) Being found drunk in a highway or other Public place whether a building or not, or a licensed premises.
(b) Being drunk while in charge on any highway or other public place of any carriage horse, cattle or steam engine.
(c) Being drunk when in possession of any loaded fire arms.
² Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level.

Drunk in, or when entering, a designated sports event¹
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Avon and Somerset	6	23	6	5	3	3	9	10	3	2
Bedfordshire	15	5	11	9	4	2	2	3	4	4
Cambridgeshire	9	6	5	5	8	4	2	4	2	—
Cheshire	4	3	2	3	1	2	5	4	—	1
Cleveland	9	7	26	4	15	26	14	13	20	23
City of London	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Cumbria	4	1	—	—	—	2	1	1	—	1
Derbyshire	2	5	—	5	3	11	4	15	8	2
Devon and Cornwall	2	1	2	2	1	1	2	3	—	6
Dorset	6	13	3	11	12	8	3	1	3	—
Durham	—	—	1	1	3	—	—	2	5	—
Essex	1	—	—	1	—	—	—	4	3	8
Gloucestershire	—	—	3	7	6	7	1	—	—	—
Greater Manchester	9	28	9	13	7	13	11	14	28	32
Hampshire	41	15	8	16	16	9	19	22	14	11
Hertfordshire	—	1	1	.—	2	1	—	2	1	3
Humberside	—	—	5	3	5	1	2	1	3	3
Kent	2	1	10	3	3	—	—	1	—	3
Lancashire	61	33	24	26	26	23	16	11	22	43
Leicestershire	—	2	2	3	—	—	4	2	4	3
Lincolnshire	—	1	—	—	—	2	1	2	1	—
Merseyside	3	9	—13	10	9	8	7	7	7	2
Metropolitan Police	198	191	115	73	37	61	72	59	17	30
Norfolk	12	14	7	1	11	10	7	8	21	4
North Yorkshire	6	2	3	15	13	4	3	1	2	—
Northamptonshire	—	—	1	—	—	—	1	1	—	—
Northumbria	102	43	26	20	44	42	44	16	21	24
Nottinghamshire	40	34	42	19	26	20	13	28	13	17
South Yorkshire	48	20	27	23	41	31	17	30	26	40
Staffordshire	3	1	—	²—	—	5	2	5	6	2
Suffolk	5	5	3	2	7	5	6	29	4	11
Surrey	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Sussex	1	—	1	3	—	—	—	—	1	—
Thames Valley	15	21	6	3	9	3	2	4	5	2
West Mercia	2	—	1	2	1	—	1	1	—	—
West Midlands	59	52	25	15	55	85	72	84	103	199
West Yorkshire	32	33	30	53	68	47	25	34	49	46
Wiltshire	12	22	2	18	11	1	1	5	6	3
Dyfed Powys	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Gwent	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
North Wales	2	3	7	5	—	2	4	1	—	—
South Wales	2	6	3	2	5	—	3	3	7	3
England and Wales	713	601	430	381	452	439	376	432	409	528
1 Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 S 2(2)

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

479 c591-6W;479 c589-94W; 219162

Session

2007-08

Subjects

Alcoholic drinks Anti-social behaviour

Link

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