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25 Mar 2009 : Column 414W—continued



25 Mar 2009 : Column 415W

25 Mar 2009 : Column 416W
2006 2007
Offences group Offence type under 21 21 and over Total under 21 21 and over Total

1

Causing death or bodily harm

4

5

9

3

9

12

2

Dangerous driving

29

88

117

36

88

124

3

Driving etc, after consuming alcohol or taking drugs

427

2,566

2,993

403

2,571

2,974

4

Careless driving

157

626

783

213

1,057

1,270

5

Accident offences

74

264

338

106

303

409

6

Unauthorised taking or theft of motor vehicle

335

172

507

431

220

651

7

Driving licence related offences

1,094

3,718

4,812

1,055

3,482

4,537

9

Vehicle insurance offences

1,346

5,019

6,365

1,277

4,614

5,891

10

Vehicle registration and excise licence offences

197

4,177

4,374

131

2,876

3,007

11

Work record and employment offences

1

180

181

64

64

12

Operator's licence offences

14

14

7

7

13

Vehicle test offences

373

1,701

2,074

214

863

1,077

14

Fraud, forgery etc., associated with vehicle or driver records

9

87

96

8

58

66

15

Vehicle or part in dangerous or defective condition

70

254

324

51

218

269

16

Speed limit offences

279

4,365

4,644

408

4,512

4,920

17

Motorway offences(other than speeding)

5

47

52

5

28

33

18

Neglect of traffic directions

84

500

584

95

441

536

19

Neglect of pedestrian rights

21

49

70

16

37

53

20

Obstruction, waiting and parking offences

1

33

34

1

31

32

21

Lighting offences

20

34

54

15

55

70

22

Noise offences

7

16

23

1

11

12

23

Load offences

41

41

30

30

24

Offences peculiar to motor cycles

87

32

119

86

17

103

25

Miscellaneous motoring offences

100

1,474

1,574

91

1,916

2,007

Total all offences

4,720

25,462

30,182

4,646

23,508

28,154

(1) It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete.
(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. 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.
(3) The numbers found guilty may exceed those proceeded against in table 1, as it may be the case that the proceedings in the magistrates' court took place in the preceding year to the defendant being found guilty at the Crown Court in the following year, or the defendant was found guilty for a different offence to the original offence proceeded against.
Source:
Office for Criminal Justice Reform - Evidence & Analysis Unit [Ref IOS 161-09]

Fines: Enforcement

Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times he has exercised his power to deduct funds from an offender’s income support payments in the pursuance of enforcement of a (a) fine and (b) compensation order under section 24 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 in each of the last five years. [266406]

Bridget Prentice: The following table shows the number of Deductions from Benefit Orders imposed by the courts under the Courts Act 2003 Fines Collection Scheme since April 2006 to February 2009, the latest date for which data are available. Full data are only available from April 2006 and cannot be broken down between fines and compensation.

Financial year: orders Number of deductions from benefits

April 2008 to February 2009

274,387

2007-08

216,402

2006-07

241,915


Firearms

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what sentencing guidelines apply to convictions for offences arising from the purchase and use of ball-bearing guns; and if he will make a statement. [265776]

Mr. Hanson: Ball-bearing guns which fire small plastic pellets are usually referred to as airsoft or BB guns and are treated in law as imitation firearms.

The maximum sentence for possession of an imitation firearm in a public place is 12 months imprisonment, or a £5,000 fine, or both. The Magistrates Courts Sentencing Guidelines have a starting point of a high level community order for carrying a loaded air weapon, with a sentencing range of a medium level community order to 26 weeks custody.

It is an offence for someone under 18 to purchase or hire an air weapon or ammunition for an air weapon; the maximum penalty is six months’ detention or a £5,000 fine, or both. There are no sentencing guidelines for this offence.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions for offences involving ball-bearing guns in each of the last three years. [265778]

Mr. Malik: It is not possible from the statistics collected centrally on the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database to distinguish offences relating to ball bearing guns, or more accurately airsoft weapons, from other imitation firearms.

Governance of Britain: Public Consultation

Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) organisations and (b) individuals were specifically invited to comment on the National Framework for Greater Citizen Engagement discussion paper. [265737]

Mr. Wills: Approximately 1,000 organisations and individuals from the Governance of Britain stakeholder database were alerted via e-mail to the publication of the National Framework for Greater Citizen Engagement discussion paper. The discussion paper, which was made available on line and in hard copy, invited views on proposals for the greater use of engagement mechanisms by national Government.


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