asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many persons convicted (a) of crimes of violence and (b) of murder in each of the past 10 years are known either to have been patients in psychiatric units or to have been committed to the State hospital, Carstairs, before committing the crimes leading to their convictions.

There is no way of obtaining this information in respect of those discharged from ordinary mental hospitals, as criminal records are not linked with health records. Statistical information of this kind is not collected in respect of patients discharged from the State hospital and only limited and incomplete information could be obtained from the existing individual records.