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24 Oct 2005 : Column 110W—continued
Racially Motivated Crime
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were convicted and sentenced for racially motivated crime in each year for which figures are held. [18059]
Mr. Hanson: The Government takes racially motivated crime very seriously. The Racial Equality Strategy, published on 19 July 2005, sets a framework to allow the Government to tackle the issues of racial inequality in Northern Ireland and to eradicate racism and hate crime. In addition, legislation was passed last year which enables aggravated penalties to be handed down by the courts on those whose crimes were motivated by hatred of a persons race.
The table outlines the number of racially motivated crimes cleared by the police in 2004–05 (first financial year for which data available). A breakdown by clearance type is provided which includes the number of crimes cleared by way of a charge or summons.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Charge/summons | 59 |
| Caution/informed warning (including juvenile) | 11 |
| No further police action(27) | 31 |
| Total crimes cleared | 101 |
(27) Includes cases where complainant declined to prosecute, or suspected offender is under the age of criminal responsibility or has died.
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) hate crimes and (b) racially motivated crimes there have been within each district command unit in Northern Ireland over the last three years. [18019]
Mr. Woodward: The Police Service of Northern Ireland will record any incident perceived to have been committed against any person or property on the grounds of a particular persons ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, political opinion or disability, whether it amounts to a crime or not. These incidents are commonly referred to as hate crimes and take many forms, including, verbal abuse, physical assault, intimidation and damage to property.
The tables provide statistics for racially motivated incidents and homophobic incidents. The statistics in relation to homophobic incidents are only available by District Command Unit for 2003–04 and 2004–05. The total figure for such incidents in 2002–03 was 35.
Computerised recording of incidents where the motivation is perceived to be on the grounds of an individual's particular religion, political opinion, or disability will be available from April 2005.
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(28) Homophobic incidents include attempted murder, physical assault, verbal abuse/threat, attack on home, attack on property, graffiti and written material.
(29) Racial incidents include murder, physical assault, verbal abuse/threat, attack on home, attack on property, graffiti and written material.
Note:
A new method of recording these figures was introduced in 2004–05. The statistics issued by the Chief Constable are now aligned with Home Office practice and as a result the figures for 2004–05 are not directly comparable with the figures for 2002–03 and 2003–04.
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Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have been prosecuted for racism in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [18237]
Mr. Woodward: Court prosecution data do not identify racism offences. The Police Service of Northern Ireland do not hold figures for the last five years. The table outlines the number of racially motivated crimes cleared by the police in 2004–05 (the first financial year for which data are available) and for the current financial year to date. A breakdown by clearance type is provided which includes the number of crimes cleared by way of a charge or summons.
(30) Part year.
(31) Includes cases where complainant declined to prosecute, and where the suspected offender is under the age of criminal responsibility or has died.
Rape
Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were convicted of a rape charge in each of the last five years. [21244]
Mr. Woodward: The information requested is provided in the table below and covers the period 1999 to 2003 (the latter being the most up-to-date data presently available).
| Rape | Assault with intent to rape | Indecent assault | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 7 | 1 | 61 |
| 2000 | 9 | 1 | 88 |
| 2001 | 13 | 1 | 81 |
| 2002 | 10 | 0 | 55 |
| 2003 | 10 | 0 | 66 |
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Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many rapes there were in each of the Police Service of Northern Ireland district commands in each of the last five years. [21246]
Mr. Woodward: The information requested is as follows.
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of rape were reported in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland in the last year for which figures are available. [21625]
Mr. Woodward: The Police Service of Northern Ireland do not record statistics by parliamentary constituencies, rather by district command unit. The following table provides the information requested in the format available for the period 2004–05.
Source:
Central Statistics Unit, PSNI
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