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Courts: Limavady

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has for the future of Limavady Courthouse; and what complaints have been received from users of the courthouse in the last 12 months. [201354]

Bridget Prentice: There have been no complaints regarding the service provided at Limavady Courthouse over the last 12 months.

The Northern Ireland Court Service is developing proposals to establish ‘hearing centres’ at a number of court venues including Limavady Courthouse. Hearing centres would open on court sitting days and court office services would be available only on those days.

During 2007 Limavady Courthouse had on average one court sitting each week and a recent survey indicated that on average two people per day visited the court office.

The proposals to introduce hearing centres are intended to make more efficient use of court resources. These proposals will be subject to full public consultation before any final decisions are made.

Crime

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the 10 most common (a) offences and (b) motoring offences were for which (i) men and (ii) women of each age group were (A) prosecuted, (B) convicted, (C) fined and (D) sent to prison in (1) Essex and (2) England and Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [198675]

Maria Eagle: Data showing the number of defendants proceeded against for the 10 most common offences in England and Wales and Essex, broken down by result, sex and age group are shown in the tables A1 and A2 as follows.

Available information on motoring offences for 2005 (latest available) is provided in the following tables B1 and B2. The data are based on the 10 most common offences proceeded against. Some of these cover more than one offence where the data reported centrally do not identify them separately. Data for 2006 will be available later this year.


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24 Apr 2008 : Column 2234W
Table A1: 10 most common offences proceeded against at the magistrates courts by result at all courts, sex and age-group for Essex police force area, 2006( 1, 2)
Number of offences
Male
All persons Aged 10-17 Aged 18 and over
No. Offence description Total proceedings Total proceedings Total findings of guilt Fined Immediate custody Total proceedings Total findings of guilt Fined Immediate custody

17000

1

Motor vehicle licences; failure to pay appropriate duty.

4,521

1

3,604

3,151

3,119

19101

2

Television licence evasion.

3,112

1

1

1

1,126

951

949

16901

3

Offences in relation to railways

2,700

39

22

14

2,206

1,822

1,796

6

10501

4

Common assault & battery.

2,322

361

289

2

15

1,583

1,053

87

238

4600

5

Stealing from shops & stalls.

1,871

219

206

16

8

1,131

1,044

258

320

8301

6

Failing to surrender to bail

1,263

88

41

4

980

405

206

72

14900

7

Criminal damage, value £5,000 or less.

1,091

338

275

5

1

662

527

147

42

12512

8

Harassment, alarm & distress.

632

110

80

21

416

347

256

11606

9

Contravening the law relating to the regulation and control of fishing for salmon, trout, freshwater fish and eels etc.

533

531

507

496

17200

10

Other offences against revenue law (excluding failure to pay appropriate duty on motor vehicle licences).

515

355

264

264

Total

18,560

1,157

914

63

24

12,594

10,071

7,578

678


Number of offences
Female
Aged 10-17 Aged 18 and over
No. Offence description Total proceedings Total findings of guilt Fined Immediate custody Total proceedings Total findings of guilt Fined Immediate custody

17000

1

Motor vehicle licences; failure to pay appropriate duty.

916

790

779

19101

2

Television licence evasion.

1

1

1

1,984

1,749

1,747

16901

3

Offences in relation to railways

11

10

8

444

359

357

10501

4

Common assault & battery.

127

104

1

251

168

6

17

4600

5

Stealing from shops & stalls.

96

88

2

1

425

377

64

90

8301

6

Failing to surrender to bail

13

6

1

182

74

41

9

14900

7

Criminal damage, value £5,000 or less.

37

33

54

38

7

1

12512

8

Harassment, alarm & distress.

35

28

5

71

59

37

11606

9

Contravening the law relating to the regulation and control of fishing for salmon, trout, freshwater fish and eels etc.

2

2

2

17200

10

Other offences against revenue law (excluding failure to pay appropriate duty on motor vehicle licences).

160

112

112

Total

320

270

17

2

4,489

3,728

3,152

117

(1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

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