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Scottish Office

Answer

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many persons have been (a) charged with and (b) convicted of offences of (i) sodomy, (ii) gross indecency and (iii) shameless indecency by one male person with another in each year for the last 10 years. [73544] Mr. McLeish: The available information on prosecutions for homosexual offences, including statutory offences, is given in the tables. From 1 July 1999, this will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament. Males proceeded against where the main offence was sodomy, gross indecency, shameless indecency or statutory homosexual offences Scotland 1988-97 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Main offence 1988 {1} 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Sodomy 11 18 12 9 5 17 15 12 8 13 (Common Law) Gross 2 -- 2 1 -- -- -- 1 -- -- Indecency (Common Law) Shameless 28 39 50 57 62 85 103 103 128 113 Indecency (Common Law) Statutory 56 43 75 103 76 61 78 50 41 30 Homosexual Offences{2} Total 97 100 139 170 143 163 196 166 177 156 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Excludes 3 males proceeded against for homosexual offences and 17 males proceeded against for lewd and libidinous offences where the main offence is not known. {2} Includes Section 7 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 1976, Section 80 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 and Section 13 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995. Males with a charge proved where the main offence was sodomy, gross indecency, shameless indecency or statutory homosexual offences Scotland 1988-1997 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Main offence 1988 {1} 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Sodomy 8 14 12 8 5 16 12 11 6 11 (Common Law) Gross -- -- 2 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- Indecency (Common Law) Shameless 27 34 43 44 52 70 91 89 98 92 Indecency (Common Law) Statutory 52 42 72 98 74 60 75 46 39 27 Homosexual Offences{2} Total 87 90 129 151 131 146 178 146 143 130 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Excludes 1 male with a main charge proved for a homosexual offence and 12 males with a main charge proved for lewd and libidinous offences where the main offence is not known. {2} Includes Section 7 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 1976, Section 80 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 and Section 13 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

73544; 326 c704W

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Arrests Convictions Homosexuality Scotland Sexual offences

Contains statistics

Yes