UK Offences Under The Hunting Act 2004 Prosecutions & Outcomes

UK Offences Under The Hunting Act 2004 Prosecutions & Outcomes

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A longer time series, from 2005 to 2018, is available for prosecutions and convictions under the Hunting Act 2004.(28)

These statistics are for England and Wales.

Between the introduction of the Hunting Act and the end of December 2017, a total of 778 individuals were proceeded against and 474 convicted. This represents a conviction ratio of 60%.(29)

Again, this represents the number of individuals prosecuted and convicted for an offence under the Hunting Act where that was the principal offence. A defendant may be charged with several offences and the principal defence is the one which carries the severer sentence.

The MoJ also publishes data on sentencing. Most offenders (88%) were ordered to pay a fine and the remainder either received a discharge or a more severe sentence. No immediate custodial sentences were imposed.

Most fines were less than £250 and the average (mean) fine in 2017 was £231.

Table 2 shows the number and outcome of proceedings by year and the average fines imposed.

Source: Ministry of Justice Criminal Justice System Statistics publication: CJS Outcomes by Offence 2006 to 2016: Pivot Table Analytical Tool for England and Wales; Criminal justice system statistics quarterly: December 2017, Outcomes by Offences tables.

Notes: a) The figures relate to defendants 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.

b) 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. 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.

c) Figures for prosecutions in 2008 will exclude data for Cardiff magistrates’ court for April, July and August 2008.

d) Values refers to number of defendants by outcome in any given year

e) The conviction ratio can be calculated as the number of convictions as a proportion of the number of proceedings. This gives a measure of the relative number of defendants who are found guilty within a given year for a certain offence, when compared with the number who are prosecuted that year for the same offence.

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