Drugs: Convictions
Justice
Gareth Johnson (Dartford, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were charged with possession of cannabis in (a) Dartford constituency, (b) Kent and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Crispin Blunt (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Prisons and Probation), Justice; Reigate, Conservative)
The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for cannabis possession in England and the Kent police force area, from 2006 to 2010 (latest available) can be viewed in the table.
Charging data are not collated centrally by the Ministry of Justice therefore proceedings data have been provided in lieu.
Court proceedings data are not available centrally at parliamentary constituency level.
Annual court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication in May 2012.
| Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts for cannabis possession, England and Kent police force area, 2006 to 2010 (1, 2) | |||||
| Area | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| England | |||||
| Proceeded against | 12,616 | 14,103 | 17,846 | 21,374 | 25,100 |
| of which: | |||||
| Kent police force area(3) | |||||
| Proceeded against | 1 | 49 | 403 | 412 | 440 |
| (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings 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. (3) We are aware of under-reporting issues in the Kent police force area in 2006 and 2007. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice. | |||||