| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Internet and Computer Crime
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent meetings he has had on an international level to discuss the problems of internet and computer crime. [30818]
Mr. Denham: Officials have taken part in recent discussions in the G8 Hi-Tech Crime Subgroup, expert meetings in Europol and more generally within the European Union and Council of Europe.
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been arrested and charged with internet and computer crime since 1997; and what sentences they have received where convicted. [30817]
Mr. Denham: No information is collected on numbers of people charged. Also the statistics available on arrests do not identify internet and computer crimes separately.
The available information, taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database, relates to England and Wales for the years 1999 and 2000 and is shown in the tables. It covers persons proceeded against under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, those convicted, together with sentences received.
| Offence description | Statute | Proceeded against | Sentenced | Absolute/ conditional discharge | Fine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | |||||
| Unauthorised access to computer material | Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | — |
| Unauthorised Access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences | Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 1 |
| Unauthorised modification of computer material | Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 3 | 4 | 7 | — | 1 |
| Total | 13 | 11 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2000 | |||||
| Unauthorised access to computer material | Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 1 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 4 |
| Unauthorised Access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences | Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — |
| Unauthorised modification of computer material | Computer Misuse Act 1990 Sec 3. | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 19 | 15 | 4 | 5 |
Notes:
1. These data are on the principal offence basis
2. Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data these data are not robust at a detailed level and have been excluded from this table.
4 Feb 2002 : Column 671W
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures have been introduced since 1997 to combat Internet and computer crime; and if he will make a statement. [30815]
Mr. Denham: In November 2000 my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced a £25 million investment in the police over three years specifically to fight hi-tech crime and to enhance the capability of the police at a national and local level to investigate computer based offences. The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit was established in April 2001.
The Task Force for the Protection of Children on the Internet was established in March 2001 and includes representatives of the internet industry, child welfare organisations, the police and Government. Its aim is to make the United Kingdom (UK) the best and safest place in the world for children to use the internet and to help protect children the world over from abuse fuelled by criminal misuse of new technologies.
Government support the work of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). Its aims are to determine whether particular newsgroups carry potentially illegal material; to
4 Feb 2002 : Column 672W
trace the originator; to ask internet service providers (ISPs) to remove the material from their servers; and to send details of the site to the UK police, or to the enforcement agency of the country concerned via the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) if the originator is abroad. Since it was established, the IWF has asked UK ISPs to remove nearly 30,000 illegal items from the Internet.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 provides law enforcement and security agencies with strictly circumscribed powers to investigate the use of computers and the Internet to engage in criminal activities.
Police Complaints
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints have been made about police officers in each police area in each of the last five years; and how many have been upheld. [31055]
Mr. Denham: Complaints and Discipline Statistics are published annually in a Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The latest statistics relating to 2000–01 were published on 14 November 2001 in issue number 21/01. Details are given in the following tables:
4 Feb 2002 : Column 673W
| 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon and Somerset | 15 | 26 | 28 | 16 | 27 |
| Bedfordshire | 14 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 6 |
| Cambridgeshire | 23 | 42 | 15 | 28 | 18 |
| Cheshire | 16 | 11 | 17 | 11 | 10 |
| Cleveland | 13 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 5 |
| Cumbria | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Derbyshire | 26 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 7 |
| Devon and Cornwall | 14 | 38 | 26 | 24 | 22 |
| Dorset | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 |
| Durham | 7 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Essex | 14 | 22 | 25 | 6 | 12 |
| Gloucestershire | 12 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 5 |
| Greater Manchester | 22 | 20 | 20 | 30 | 40 |
| Hampshire | 30 | 22 | 24 | 22 | 20 |
| Hertfordshire | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 20 |
| Humberside | 8 | 18 | 9 | 14 | 14 |
| Kent | 27 | 26 | 24 | 26 | 63 |
| Lancashire | 30 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 26 |
| Leicestershire | 10 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 13 |
| Lincolnshire | 12 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 |
| London City of | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Merseyside | 11 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 36 |
| Metropolitan police | 203 | 236 | 146 | 168 | 138 |
| Norfolk | 26 | 11 | 28 | 11 | 17 |
| Northamptonshire | 9 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 7 |
| Northumbria | 8 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| North Yorkshire | 13 | 10 | 27 | 20 | 16 |
| Nottinghamshire | 15 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 26 |
| South Yorkshire | 3 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 14 |
| Staffordshire | 7 | 9 | 6 | 20 | 34 |
| Suffolk | 12 | 11 | 24 | 11 | 5 |
| Surrey | 7 | 5 | 17 | 7 | 17 |
| Sussex | 33 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 79 |
| Thames Valley | 27 | 32 | 23 | 37 | 45 |
| Warwickshire | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| West Mercia | 14 | 6 | 23 | 13 | 11 |
| West Midlands | 23 | 61 | 47 | 26 | 38 |
| West Yorkshire | 54 | 26 | 13 | 13 | 19 |
| Wiltshire | 2 | 27 | 5 | 3 | 11 |
| Dyfed-Powys | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Gwent | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| North Wales | 5 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 13 |
| South Wales | 28 | 17 | 11 | 13 | 17 |
| Total | 834 | 850 | 745 | 714 | 903 |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |