NCJ Number
138921
Date Published
1991
Length
86 pages
Annotation
Crime statistics for Northern Ireland indicate that the 57,198 offenses recorded by the police in 1990 represented an increase of 4 percent over the previous year but a decline of 14 percent from 1986.
Abstract
A total of 21,475 notifiable offenses were cleared by the police in 1990, an overall clearup rate of 38 percent. This represented a decline in both the number of crimes cleared and the clearup rate from the previous year. The number of defendants processed in magistrate courts during 1990 for summary and indictable offenses totaled 15,495, a decline of 3 percent from 1989. Most defendants were adult males; 11 percent were adult females, and 2 percent were juveniles. The total number of defendants processed in the Crown Court reached 1,422 in 1990, a slight increase over the previous year but still at a low level compared to the late 1970's and 1980's. Almost 90 percent of defendants pleaded guilty, and most cases consequently resulted in a guilty finding. Of those convicted in all courts, more than half had at least one previous conviction. In relation to their numbers in the population, the highest rate of conviction was for persons aged 29 years. In the Crown Court, the most frequently used disposal was immediate custody; this disposal was given to 48 percent of those found guilty in 1990. A further 30 percent received a suspended custodial sentence. Community supervision was used more frequently in 1990 than in any year since 1985, making up 15 percent of all Crown Court sentences. In magistrate courts, a fine was the most common disposal, being given in 1990 to 34 percent of those convicted of indictable offenses, 65 percent of those convicted of summary offenses, and 94 percent of those convicted of motoring offenses. The average remand population in Northern Ireland grew by 35 percent from 266 in 1988 to 360 in 1990. Appendixes contain supplemental information on notifiable and indictable offenses, criminal courts in Northern Ireland, sentences available to courts, and estimating crime unrecorded by the police. 36 tables and 44 figures