To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases involving rape the defendant was convicted following the introduction of DNA evidence by the prosecution in each of the last three years.

Data on the number of convictions obtained in which DNA match evidence from the National DNA Database (NDNAD) was a contributory factor are not collected centrally.

However, data are available on the number of detections in which a DNA match was available. The following table shows the number of rapes detected in which a match on the NDNAD was available for each of the last three years for which data are available, for police forces in England and Wales.

The figures do not include:

Additional detections where an offender admits further offences following a detection for which a DNA match was available; or

Crimes detected as a result of one-off speculative searches of the NDNAD or from comparing DNA profiles in a forensic laboratory.

These procedures are used mainly in the investigation of serious crimes such as murder and rape. Therefore the figures provided in the table under-represent the overall contribution of DNA matches to the detection of rape crimes.

It is also important to note that detections and any subsequent convictions are obtained through integrated criminal investigation, based on a range of evidence types and not through DNA evidence alone.

The source of the figures provided is the forensic performance data, which are collected by the Home Office from police forces. The figures for 2009-10 are not yet available.

The data provided are management information and have not been formally assessed for compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.