asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were tried for murder in each of the years from 1957 to 1986; and how many of these in each year were acquitted.

The information requested is given in the table. These figures are published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales" (for 1957–63 in table III, for 1964–75 in table I1(a), for 1976–79 in table 5(a) and for 1980–85 in table 2.2A of the supplementary tables). Information for 1986 is not yet available.