asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men, how many women and how many children have been prosecuted for shoplifting during each of the last five years for which records are available; of those who pleaded not guilty in each category, how many and what percentage were acquitted by magistrates' courts and by Crown courts, respectively; and how many and what percentage of the unsuccessful prosecutions were brought by shopkeepers or other private individuals and how many and what percentage by the police.
Following is the available information on persons proceeded against for shoplifting:—
PERSONS PROCEEDED AGAINST FOR SHOPLIFTING AND PERSONS ACQUITTED OR FOUND GUILTY | |||||||||
England and Wales 1969–1973 | |||||||||
Persons proceeded against | Magistrates' courts | The Crown Court | |||||||
Year | Acquitted | Found guilty | Acquitted | Found guilty | |||||
1969 | … | … | … | … | 40,181 | 1,574 | 37,527 | 201 | 357 |
1970 | … | … | … | … | 43,477 | 1,845 | 40,114 | 222 | 478 |
1971 | … | … | … | … | 47,589 | 2,094 | 43,592 | 319 | 659 |
1972 | … | … | … | … | 49,611 | 2,307 | 45,043 | 416 | 876 |
1973 | … | … | … | … | 48,446 | 2,219 | 44,373 | 525 | 929 |
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those convicted of shoplifting for the first time had ever previously been on criminal charges; and how many were subsequently charged with shoplifting again, after an initial conviction, for each of the last five years for which figures are available.
I regret that the information is not available.