(2) how many people have been convicted of possessing explosives without a valid certificate or licence in England and Wales in each year since 1998.
The number of persons found guilty at all courts in England and Wales for offences relating to possession of explosives with intent to endanger life is given in the following table from 1998 to 2008 (latest available).
Convictions for offences of possessing explosives without a valid licence are part of a miscellaneous group of Explosives Acts offences, including the 1875 and 1923 Acts, which cannot be separately analysed. For information, defendants found guilty for offences within this miscellaneous group are given in the table.
Data for 2009 are planned for publication in the autumn, 2010.
Offence description Statute 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 20083 Possession etc. of explosives with intent to endanger life Explosives Substances Act 1883—section 3 (in part) 2 — — — 7 4 — 1 4 6 3 Offences against Explosives Acts; Offences against orders made under the Emergency Laws; Offences against restrictions relating to the manufacture of fireworks Explosives Acts 1875 and 1923 (except S.80 of the Explosives Act 1875) and Orders in Council and Rules thereunder; Orders made under the Emergency Laws (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1953—S.3; Fireworks Act 1951—SS.1(4), 2(5), 5(4) and 6 13 14 8 4 13 7 19 15 4 2 — 1 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 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 Excludes convictions for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.