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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.

Persons proceeded against under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, England and Wales, 1999 and 2000

Offence description Statute Proceeded against SentencedAbsolute/ conditional discharge Fine
1999
Unauthorised access to computer materialComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 1632
Unauthorised Access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offencesComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 2311
Unauthorised modification of computer materialComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 3471
Total131122
2000
Unauthorised access to computer materialComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 18934
Unauthorised Access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offencesComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 231
Unauthorised modification of computer materialComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec 3.8511
Total191545

Offence description StatuteCommunity sentenceSuspended sentenceImmediate custody Other
1999
Unauthorised access to computer materialComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 11
Unauthorised Access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offencesComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 2
Unauthorised modification of computer materialComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec 3.213
Total313
2000
Unauthorised access to computer materialComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 12
Unauthorised Access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offencesComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec. 21
Unauthorised modification of computer materialComputer Misuse Act 1990 Sec 3.3
Total24

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:

Complaints received by the police

1996–971997–981998–991999–20002000–01
Avon and Somerset9761,035852871845
Bedfordshire217247161207194
Cambridgeshire458473410390281
Cheshire489600597556495
Cleveland375342326400318
Cumbria419315289286283
Derbyshire384443400421298
Devon and Cornwall760911798645704
Dorset185164165239267
Durham166163181168181
Essex573559510538549
Gloucestershire323328272296258
Greater Manchester2,1492,1812,2112,2811,807
Hampshire948897654594523
Hertfordshire312466416502491
Humberside431444425410364
Kent657675624678620
Lancashire886848850918682
Leicestershire292266280315333
Lincolnshire169141310328313
London City of133126696360
Merseyside2,0282,2701,4291,312911
Metropolitan police9,1228,0377,1546,6115,830
Norfolk423519326433365
Northamptonshire294331256212221
Northumbria650671629668661
North Yorkshire370343363441441
Nottinghamshire754812689817770
South Yorkshire473454551666582
Staffordshire587598511629803
Suffolk287308268374229
Surrey497561639477460
Sussex8641,0761,1531,7341,814
Thames Valley742604768756768
Warwickshire165180206194205
West Mercia506517454578410
West Midlands1,6811,6761,5901,8681,884
West Yorkshire966864796871795
Wiltshire162185259230266
Dyfed-Powys202183180148157
Gwent427446505557487
North Wales392353381439297
South Wales965723752733747
Total33,85933,33530,65931,85428,969

4 Feb 2002 : Column 673W

Complaints against the police upheld

1996–971997–981998–991999–20002000–01
Avon and Somerset1526281627
Bedfordshire1431196
Cambridgeshire2342152818
Cheshire1611171110
Cleveland1321205
Cumbria21770
Derbyshire265827
Devon and Cornwall1438262422
Dorset36735
Durham75154
Essex142225612
Gloucestershire12123115
Greater Manchester2220203040
Hampshire3022242220
Hertfordshire151210820
Humberside81891414
Kent2726242663
Lancashire3012151326
Leicestershire101510513
Lincolnshire126657
London City of75643
Merseyside11712636
Metropolitan police203236146168138
Norfolk2611281117
Northamptonshire91697
Northumbria8126312
North Yorkshire1310272016
Nottinghamshire151311226
South Yorkshire313111814
Staffordshire7962034
Suffolk121124115
Surrey7517717
Sussex3323315479
Thames Valley2732233745
Warwickshire66469
West Mercia146231311
West Midlands2361472638
West Yorkshire5426131319
Wiltshire2275311
Dyfed-Powys13154
Gwent73538
North Wales5914713
South Wales2817111317
Total834850745714903


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