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Fraud: Forgery

Answer

The number of persons cautioned, proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts, for offences relating to fraud and forgery, in England and Wales, 1997 to 2007 (latest available) is shown in the table.The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence.Proceeded against and found guilty data are on the principal offence basis. 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.Information on the number of people who have been investigated for offences relating to fraud and forgery is not held by my Department.Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.

The number of persons cautioned proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts, for selected offences relating to fraud and forgery in England and Wales, 1997 to 2007¹,²,³,4,5,6
	Cautioned	Proceeded against	Found guilty
1997	7,156	24,114	17,006
1998	7,401	27,418	19,753
1999	7,204	28,434	20,303
2000	6,180	26,881	19,222
2001	5,764	25,764	18,282
2002	5,335	25,014	18,141
2003	5,484	24,739	18,019
2004	6,033	23,552	18,140
2005	6,936	23,110	18,449
2006	8,024	22,705	18,186
2007	8,587	24,170	19,932
¹ The offence group of Fraud and Forgery includes 'Indictable only' and 'triable-either way offences', it does not include summary offences. 'Indictable only' are the most serious breaches of the criminal law and must be dealt with at the Crown Court. 'Triable-either-way offences' may be tried at either the Crown Court or at magistrates courts.
² From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals.
³ The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence.
4 Fraud and Forgery includes the following offence classes:
Fraud by Company Director etc.
False Accounting
Other Fraud
Bankruptcy Offence
Forgery etc. of Drug Prescription
Other Forgery etc.
5 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence 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.
6 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 (police forces only for cautions though). 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:
OCJR—E&A: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

496 c1769-70W; 286981

Session

2008-09

Subjects

Fraud Forgery

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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