Dangerous Dogs Chris Grayling To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people have (a) been prosecuted under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and (b) received the maximum sentence for ownership of a banned dog in each year since 1998; and how many weapon dogs have been seized by police in England and Wales in each of those years. Jim Fitzpatrick The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts and those fined and given immediate custody under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, England and Wales, from 1998 to 2008 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table. Data for 2009 are expected to be published in the autumn of 2010. Figures for the number of dogs seized under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 are not collected centrally. 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| | |Defendants| 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| | |1998 |1999|20003|2001|2002|2003|2004|2005|2006|2007|20084| 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|Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 | | ||||||||||| 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|Owner or person in charge allowing dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place injuring any person |Proceeded against|434 |449|458|490|537|560|597|645|703|667|675| 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| |Found guilty |239 |262|260|285|300|302|350|403|458|456|481| 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| | | ||||||||||| 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|Owner or person in charge allowing dog to enter a non-public place and injuring any person |Proceeded against|28 |34|35|50|38|52|48|44|54|50|44| 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| |Found guilty |13 |19|19|31|30|33|25|25|29|27|33| 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| | | ||||||||||| 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|Offences in relation to dogs under Section 1(2)(a) |Proceeded against|6 |1|2|1|6|4|15|3|2|9|4| 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| |Found guilty |5 |—|—|—|3|2|14|1|1|7|4| 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| | | ||||||||||| 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|Offences in relation to dogs under Section 1(2)(b) |Proceeded against|— |—|1|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|1| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |Found guilty |— |—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|1| 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| | | ||||||||||| 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|Offences in relation to dogs under Section 1(2)(d) |Proceeded against|7 |11|9|4|3|2|2|3|1|7|16| 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| |Found guilty |2 |6|6|2|2|—|1|3|—|5|15| 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| | | ||||||||||| 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|Offences in relation to dogs under Section1(2)(e) |Proceeded against|— |2|—|—|1|—|—|1|—|—|—| 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| |Found guilty |— |1|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—| 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| | | ||||||||||| 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|Offences in relation to dogs under Section 1(3) |Proceeded against|23 |12|5|4|6|1|5|11|8|87|117| 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| |Found guilty |8 |5|2|2|2|1|2|7|5|62|95| 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|Offences in relation to dogs under Section 3(1) |Proceeded against|248 |254|266|278|284|329|290|278|278|341|356| 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| |Found guilty |125 |126|130|157|150|171|167|168|160|205|239| 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| | | ||||||||||| 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|Offences in relation to dogs under Section 3(3) |Proceeded against|12 |9|24|20|18|20|11|24|19|22|20| 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| |Found guilty |8 |5|13|14|7|10|5|9|11|15|10| 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| | | ||||||||||| 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|Offences in relation to dogs under Dangerous Dogs Act Section 4(8) and Protection of Badgers Act 1992 Section 13 |Proceeded against|6 |30|23|39|29|20|22|16|12|10|14| 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| |Found guilty |6 |18|16|31|23|12|18|9|4|5|11| 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| | | ||||||||||| 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|Total |Proceeded against|764 |802|823|886|922|988|990|1,025|1,077|1,193|1,247| 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| |Found guilty |406 |442|446|522|517|531|582|625|668|782|889| 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|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 Staffordshire Police Force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates' courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.4 Excludes convictions for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008.Source:Evidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice| | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------