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Acquittals
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Solicitor-General what analysis she has undertaken to determine the reasons for (a) judge-ordered and (b) judge-directed acquittals. [60202]
The Solicitor-General: I regularly receive reports from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), who maintain a record of the number of cases resulting in a judge-ordered or directed acquittal and capture a broad analysis of the reasons underlying the failure of the case.
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The figures shown in the table contain an analysis for the year ending March 2002. The figures in column one represent the number of defendants whose case resulted in a judge-ordered or judge-directed acquittal together with the reasons for the outcome. The figures in column two express these as a percentage of completed Crown Court cases (not including cases dealt with under its appellate jurisdiction).
In the year 2001–02 a judges-ordered or directed acquittal in 13,306 cases, representing 15.8 per cent. of the total. Of these, the largest figure (4,515 cases) represents cases where a judge ordered acquittal because a prosecution witness was missing, or refused to give
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evidence, where a complaint was withdrawn, or where a witness was unable to give evidence. This category accounts for 5.4 per cent. of the total number of cases and 33.9 per cent. of the total number of judge-ordered and directed acquittals.
A further 3,078 (3.6 per cent. of the total) resulted in a judge-ordered acquittal because of doubts over the admissibility, reliability or strength of evidence (other than identification evidence).
A more detailed list of reasons for these outcomes will be available following the introduction of the CPS Compass Case Management System due to roll-out between April and December 2003.
| Number of defendants(20) | Percentage of completed cases(21) | |
|---|---|---|
| Judge-ordered acquittals | ||
| Witness missing/refuses or unable to give evidence/complaint withdrawn | 4,515 | 5.4 |
| Defendant medical problems | 257 | 0.3 |
| Other indictments or sentences | 1,072 | 1.8 |
| Doubts identification evidence | 966 | 1.1 |
| Other evidence inadmissible/unreliable/conflicting | 3,078 | 3.6 |
| Legal element missing from prosecution case | 771 | 0.9 |
| Long delay or abuse of process | 565 | 0.7 |
| Adjournment refused/P11 application refused | 600 | 0.7 |
| Total | 11,824 | 14.0 |
| Judge-directed acquittals | ||
| Identification evidence unreliable | 271 | 0.3 |
| Legal element missing from prosecution case | 243 | 0.3 |
| Doubts over other evidence | 460 | 0.5 |
| Confession or other evidence ruled inadmissible | 38 | 0.0 |
| Other reason | 470 | 0.6 |
| Total | 1,482 | 1.8 |
(20) This column shows the number of defendants whose case resulted in judge-ordered and directed acquittal.
(21) This column expresses these figures as a percentage of completed Crown Court cases, excluding appeals and committals for sentence.
DEFENCE
Helicopter Equipment
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to install an integrated cockpit voice and flight data recorder with a health and usage monitoring system into (a) Sea King Mk 3, (b) Sea King Mk 3A, (c) Lynx and (d) Puma aircraft; at what stage these plans are; and if he will make a statement. [64850]
Mr. Ingram: We are examining how we can derive the maximum benefit for these in-service helicopters from integrated cockpit voice and flight data recorders, and the health and usage monitoring system. Final decisions have yet to be taken as to which helicopter types will be fitted with this equipment, and to what timescale.
Housing
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military service properties in the United Kingdom are waiting to be sold. [54633]
Dr. Moonie: If "military service properties" refers to housing, most of the family quarters estate in England and Wales was sold to Annington Homes Ltd. (AHL) in November 1996. The sale to AHL did not cover Scotland. The Defence Housing Executive (DHE) leases back from AHL the properties it needs to house service families. Under the sale agreement, DHE must hand back 13,213 properties to AHL over the first 25 years (i.e. to 2021). In financial year 2001–02, 2,305 properties were released to AHL and a further 220 family quarters still owned by my Department were passed to Defence Estates (DE) for disposal.
To date in 2002, 1,884 leased properties in England and Wales have been handed back to AHL. On 31 March 2002 DE were actively preparing in excess of 600 houses for sale.
More generally, the number of sites (other than housing) in disposal changes from day to day as some are sold and others come forward for disposal.
Land Sales
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list land within the Defence Estates portfolio that (a) is being offered for sale and (b) will be offered in the next 12 months, giving its (i) location and (ii) size. [59068]
Dr. Moonie: The information requested for the Ministry of Defence is as follows.
(22) Indicates land likely to be offered in the next 12 months, compared to land currently being offered.
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It should be noted that these figures represent only a "snapshot" of the situation in regard to sites in disposal. Land is declared surplus and comes forward for disposal frequently, and sites are sold on a regular basis.
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The list is also restricted to land, rather than buildings and thus does not constitute the totality of MOD sites in disposal.
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