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Homicide

Volume 113: debated on Thursday 26 March 1987

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asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons previously convicted for homicide were convicted for a second homicide offence in the period from 1965 to 1986; and what were the figures within that total for each five-year period.

Information is published in table 4.9 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, 1985" (Cm. 10), and the corresponding tables in the volumes for earlier years, and is summarised in the following table.

Suspects convicted of homicide by previous homicide convictions
England and WalesNumber of persons
Year initially recorded as homicideNumber previously convicted of homicide
1965
19661
19672
1968
19691
19702
19711
1972
19732
19743
19752
19763
19775
19784
19795
19801

Year initially recorded as homicide

Number previously convicted of homicide

19814
19822
19833
19843
1985 (revised)12
1986 (provisional)11
1965–694
1970–748
1975–7919
1980–8413

1 As at 24 March 1987

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if figures for the percentage increase in murders made known to the police (a) between 1945 and 1965 and (b) between 1965 and the most recent year are available separately from those listed under the heading "Offences initially recorded as homicide" in table 4.1 of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales 1985."

In the absence of a court decision it is not possible to distinguish between offences of murder, manslaughter and infanticide — they are known collectively as homicide. Since 1967, the numbers of homicides decided to be murder are published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales", in table 4.2 of the volume for 1985 (Cm. 10) and in the corresponding table in the volumes for earlier years. For persons convicted of murder, an indication of the changes in the numbers since 1945 may be obtained from the results of court proceedings which are published in table S2.1(a) of "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales, Supplementary Tables, 1985" and in the corresponding tables for earlier years.