Crimes of Violence: Children

Mr. Gregory Campbell
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many violent crimes where a child under five years was a victim resulted in a conviction in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins
The information is not available in the format requested. Northern Ireland conviction data do not include victim information in relation to the commission of an offence and violent crimes against children under five years do not constitute separate offences by legislation.

It is only possible to give the number of convictions for those violent offences, which in their definition, refer to a child or children. The data provided in the following table cover the calendar years 2002 to 2006 (the latest available) and are collated on the principal offence rule; so only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included.

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|Offence                                                           |2002|2003|2004|2005|2006|
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|Common assault on child or young person                           |2   |0   |1   |1   |2   |
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|Aggravated assault on male child                                  |15  |3   |11  |7   |5   |
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|Cruelty to person under 16 years                                  |8   |12  |8   |10  |3   |
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|Causing or procuring cruelty to children                          |0   |0   |0   |0   |1   |
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|Total                                                             |25  |15  |20  |18  |11  |
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|1 Data do not include sexual offences against a child or children.|    |    |    |    |    |
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