Arson Lady Hermon To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many incidents of suspected deliberate fire starting were reported in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; and how many people were (a) arrested, (b) prosecuted and (c) convicted of arson and related offences in each year. Paul Goggins Table 1 outlines the total number of incidents recorded and cleared by PSNI. Table 2 gives prosecutions and convictions for the offences of ‘arson’ and ‘arson endangering life’. The statistics in the table are drawn from two separate sources—PSNI Central Statistics Unit and NIO Statistics and Research Branch. PSNI statistics include incidents which have been recorded but did not result in prosecution or any further recommended action. The statistics drawn from NIO Statistics and Research Branch detail prosecutions and convictions. Comparison is not possible between the two tables. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Number of Offences| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Recorded |Cleared| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2002-03 |2,598 |141| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2003-04 |2,136 |200| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2004-05 |2,011 |177| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |2005-06 |2,333 |179| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1 April 2006 to 28 February 20071 |2,281 |153| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1 Data are collated on the principal offence rule; thus only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.Source:Central Statistics Unit, PSNI| | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- | |2001 |2002 |2003 | -------------------------------------------------------- | |Prosecuted|Convicted|Prosecuted|Convicted|Prosecuted|Convicted| -------------------------------------------------------- |Arson |32 |24 |47 |35|43|29| -------------------------------------------------------- |Arson endangering life|13 |9 |3 |3|15|8| -------------------------------------------------------- |Total |45 |33 |50 |38|58|37| -------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Prosecuted|Convicted|Prosecuted|Convicted| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Arson |61 |39 |39 |21 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Arson endangering life |22 |16 |13 |10 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total |83 |55 |52 |31 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1 Data are collated on the principal offence rule; thus only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.2 Data for 2005 are provisional.Source:Statistics and Research Branch| | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------