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Poaching

Volume 473: debated on Wednesday 12 March 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many (a) arrests, (b) prosecutions and (c) convictions there were for poaching in (i) Lancashire and (ii) England in each year since 2000. (193593)

The arrests collection held by my Department covers persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, Summary offences concerning poaching are non-notifiable and as a result are not covered by the collection.

Data showing the number of defendants proceeded against and found guilty of poaching in Lancashire and England are in the following table.

Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts for poaching in Lancashire and England, 2000 to 2006

2000

2001

2002

2003

Proceedings

Findings of guilt

Proceedings

Findings of guilt

Proceedings

Findings of guilt

Proceedings

Findings of guilt

Lancashire police force

23

20

11

8

16

14

9

7

England

298

220

225

186

319

242

207

140

200420052006

Proceedings

Findings of guilt

Proceedings

Findings of guilt

Proceedings

Findings of guilt

Lancashire police force

29

22

21

1

l

2

England

299

233

455

370

75

48

Notes:

1 These data are on the principal offence basis.

2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

3 The statutes used are as follows:

Night Poaching Act 1823 s1, Night Poaching Act 1844 s1, Game Act 1831 s30-32, Poaching Preventions Act 1862 s2 and Deer Act 1991.

Source:

RDS OCJR Ministry of Justice