“Twenty-eight persons were charged with 60 offences”

The Northern Ireland Office has released a Research and Statistical Bulletin 10/2009 entitled “Northern Ireland Statistics on the Operation of the Terrorism Act 2000: Annual Statistics 2008” [pdf file]

During 2008:
· There were 59 designated cordons under section 33.
· Under section 37, Schedule 5, there were 108 premises searched under warrant by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
· There were 150 persons detained under section 41 of the Act, 125 (83%) of whom were held for 48 hours or less.
· There were 24 applications for extensions of detention, all of which were granted.
· Twenty-eight persons were charged with 60 offences including 6 persons charged with murder, 20 firearms offences and 4 explosives offences.
· Six persons were charged with 7 Terrorism Act offences including 3 for possession for terrorist purposes, 2 offences under section 15 (fundraising) and 2 offences for membership.
· There were 54 requests to have someone informed of detention, all of which were granted immediately.
· There were 148 requests for access to a solicitor, 147 of which were granted immediately.
· Under section 44, there were 6,922 persons, and 6,016 vehicles stopped and searched during 2008.
· Under section 80, of the 28 persons sentenced for a scheduled offence none had committed the offence during a period of remission from prison.
· There was 1 requisition order and 5 de-requisition orders made during 2008.
· Compensation payments (including solicitors’ and loss assessors’ fees and Agency payments) totalled £129,689.

Perhaps the most interesting table from the bulletin

Table 10: Power to stop and search: Number of person and vehicle searches under section
44 of the Terrorism Act (1)

Year – Number of persons stopped and searched – Number of vehicles stopped and searched

2005 – 204 – 156

2006 – 948 – 791

2007 – 2,167 – 1,801

2008 Jan–Mar – 1,400 – 1,127
2008 Apr–Jun – 1,341 – 1,123
2008 Jul–Sept – 1,657 – 1,689
2008 Oct–Dec – 2,524 – 2,077
2008 TOTAL – 6,922 – 6,016

Note: 1. Data not available before July 2005.
Source: Police Service of Northern Ireland

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