Written question asked by Kevin McNamara (Labour) on Thursday, 5 April 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 May 2001. It was answered by Lord Spellar (Labour) on Thursday, 3 May 2001 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what models of plastic baton round have been tested that would meet the criteria for a penetrating kinetic energy round; and what his assessment is of the lethality potential of such weapons.

Answer: Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what models of plastic baton round have been tested that would meet the criteria for a penetrating kinetic energy round; and what his assessment is of the lethality potential of such weapons. [158047] Mr. Spellar: L5A7 and L21A1 baton rounds are not designed to penetrate the body wall. We are not aware of any incidence of penetration of the torso body wall by polyurethane baton rounds that have been fired in Northern Ireland since the 1970s. No studies were undertaken on the probability of penetration of the torso body wall by these projectiles, prototypes of the L21A1, or commercially available kinetic energy based public order equipment.

Secondary information