To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give separately for magistrates courts and Crown courts for (a) 1988 and (b) for 1989 the number of cases involving non-scheduled offences in which pleas of not guilty were entered; in how many of these cases verdicts of not guilty were returned; and in how many of these cases trial was by jury.
[holding answer 4 July 1990]:(a) Figures for 1988 are:
| Magistrates courts | Crown courts | |
| Plea: Not guilty | 4,696 | 188 |
| Verdict: Not guilty | 3,209 | 91 |
(b) Figures for 1989 are:
Magistrates courts
| Crown courts
| |
| Plea: Not guilty | 4,006 | 144 |
| Verdict: Not guilty | 3,072 | 91 |
All Crown court cases involving non-scheduled offences where not guilty pleas were entered were tried by
Sentenced male prison population, 28 December 1989
| ||||||||
Ages
| ||||||||
Sentence group
| Less than 18 years
| 18 to under 25 years
| 25 to under 30 years
| 30 to under 40 years
| 40 to under 50 years
| 50 to under 60 years
| 60 years plus
| Total
|
| Up to 3 months | ||||||||
| Scheduled | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Non-scheduled | 0 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 3 to 6 months | ||||||||
| Scheduled | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Non-scheduled | 5 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 41 |
| 6 to 12 months | ||||||||
| Scheduled | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Non-scheduled | 3 | 43 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 82 |
| 12 to 18 months | ||||||||
| Scheduled | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Non-scheduled | 1 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| 18 months to 4 years | ||||||||
| Scheduled | 1 | 101 | 34 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 166 |
| Non-scheduled | 3 | 30 | 20 | 22 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 94 |
jury. Figures for magistrates courts include all offences with a plea of not guilty and therefore include a small number of 'terrorist-type' offences.