Written question asked by Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 26 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 6 April 2010. It was answered by Claire Ward (Labour) on Tuesday, 6 April 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Protection of Badgers Act 1992

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been for offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 in each year since 2006.

Answer

The requested information is shown in the following tables:

The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for selected offences, England and Wales, 2006 to 2008¹, ², ³
			2006	2007
	Statute	Offence description	Proceeded against	Found guilty	Sentenced	Proceeded against	Found guilty	Sentenced
10822	Badgers Act 1973 as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1991, s.26 and Badgers Act 1991, s.1	Offences of cruelty to badgers and special protection for badgers and their setts.	10	3	3	20	6	6
11120	Badgers (further protection) Act 1991	Failing to give up a dog for destruction or having custody of a dog while disqualified.	12	4	4	10	5	5

			2008³
	Statute	Offence description	Proceeded against	Found guilty	Sentenced
10822	Badgers Act 1973 as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1991, s.26 and Badgers Act 1991, s.1	Offences of cruelty to badgers and special protection for badgers and their setts.	22	11	11
11120	Badgers (further protection) Act 1991	Failing to give up a dog for destruction or having custody of a dog while disqualified.	14	11	11
¹ The figures given 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. 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 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. ³ Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services in the Ministry of Justice.

Secondary information