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Written question asked by Toby Perkins (Labour) on Thursday, 16 May 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 21 May 2019 (named day). It was answered by Robert Buckland (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 May 2019 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Extortion: Prosecutions

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many successful prosecutions have been brought for the offence of blackmail against people that demanded money to leave sites which they are occupying illegally in each year since 2010.

Answer

Information regarding prosecutions and convictions for blackmail offences from 2010 to 2018 can be found at the following link –

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx

Filter the ‘Offence’ field to ’35 Blackmail’ to obtain these figures. The total number of defendants proceeded against as well as those convicted of blackmail for the 2008-2018 decade will appear in the pivot table.

However, specific information regarding blackmail offences, such as the offence of blackmail against people that demanded money to leave sites which they were occupying illegally, may be held on court record. But to be able to identify these cases, as they are not held centrally, we would have to access individual court records which would be of disproportionate cost.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
255320
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Prosecutions Trespass Extortion
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk