Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions there have been in the past three years for (1) theft where the sum of money or the value of the goods alleged to have been taken is £10 or less, (2) begging, and (3) rough sleeping.
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts for theft offences, and begging and sleeping out, in England and Wales, from 2012 to 2014 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for selected offence categories, England and Wales, 2012 to 2014 (1)(2) | |||
|
|
|
|
Offence category | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|
|
|
|
Theft offences | 144,972 | 142,011 | 135,401 |
|
|
|
|
Begging | 1,229 | 2,097 | 2,219 |
|
|
|
|
Sleeping out | 21 | 30 | 23 |
|
|
|
|
(1) The figures given in the table 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 it 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. | |||
|
|
|
|
Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. | |||
Ref: PQ HL 8107 |
|
|
|
Information on the value of the items involved in each individual theft offence is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The figures in the table can also be found in the Outcomes by Offence tables in the annual publication on the Government website.