To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was, for each year since 1980, the percentage of cases brought against juveniles in which a conviction was secured;(2) what has been the number of cases in each year since 1980 in which police identified a juvenile or juveniles as having committed offences but in which
(a) the case was not brought to court or (b) the prosecution withdrew the case or offered no evidence or (c) the case was dismissed by the court.
Information is not collected centrally on the number of juvenile offenders identified by the police, for whom no court proceedings were taken. Information in the following tables show (A) the percentage of cases brought against juveniles where a conviction was secured; and (B) the number of juveniles proceeded against at magistrates courts where the case was either dismissed or withdrawn. 1990 data is not yet available.
| Table A | |||
| Number and percentage of juveniles (persons aged 10 to under 17) prosecuted at magistrates' courts and convicted at all courts of indictable offences 1980–89 | |||
| England and Wales | |||
| Year | Total proceeded against (= 100 per cent.) | Total found guilty (number) | Total found guilty 1(per cent.) |
| 1980 | 98,000 | 90,000 | 92 |
| 1981 | 95,000 | 87,000 | 91 |
| 1982 | 90,000 | 82,000 | 91 |
| 1983 | 82,000 | 73,000 | 90 |
| 1984 | 78,000 | 70,000 | 89 |
| 1985 | 71,000 | 63,000 | 88 |
| 1986 | 57,000 | 48,000 | 84 |
| 1987 | 53,000 | 42,000 | 79 |
| 1988 | 48,000 | 36,000 | 77 |
| 1989 | 37,000 | 26,000 | 72 |
| 1 Percentages based on actual figures. | |||
Table B
| |||
Number of juveniles (persons aged 10 to under 17) proceeded against at magistrates' courts for indictable offences where the charges were withdrawn or dismissed 1980–1989
| |||
England and Wales
| |||
Year
| Total proceeded against
| Charge withdrawn
| Charge dismissed
|
| 1980 | 98,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 |
| 1981 | 95,000 | 3,000 | 4,000 |
| 1982 | 90,000 | 3,000 | 4,000 |
| 1983 | 82,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 1984 | 78,000 | 4,000 | 3,000 |
| 1985 | 71,000 | 4,000 | 3,000 |
| 1986 | 57,000 | 5,000 | 2,000 |
| 1987 | 53,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 |
| 1988 | 48,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 |
| 1989 | 37,000 | 5,000 | 2,000 |