Ministry of Justice written question – answered at on 22 March 2018.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of offences under the (i) Game Act 1831, (ii) Poaching Prevention Act 1862 and (iii) the Night Poaching Acts 1828 and 1844 in each of the last three years.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are responsible for the policy and legislation on gaming and poaching. For the period 2014-2016, the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts for offences related to the above legislation, broken down by the specific legislation, in England and Wales, can be viewed in the table below.
Defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of offences under selected legislation, England and Wales, 2014 to 2016 (1)(2) | ||||
Legislation | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |
Proceeded against | 222 | 134 | 128 | |
Found guilty | 147 | 75 | 75 | |
Proceeded against | 81 | 41 | 42 | |
Found guilty | 56 | 31 | 36 | |
Night Poaching Act 1844 | Proceeded against | - | - | - |
Found guilty | - | - | - | |
Poaching Prevention Act 1862 | Proceeded against | 10 | 1 | 8 |
Found guilty | 8 | - | 4 | |
'-' = Nil | ||||
(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. | ||||
Court proceedings data for 2017 is planned for publication in May 2018.
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