PREVENTION OF TERRORISM ACT - Figures 1974-1990
01 January 1991
PREVENTION OF TERRORISM ACT - Figures 1974-1990
bacdoc June=1991
On 1 March, the Home Office released the latest statistics on the PTA.
These form part of a series which began in 1979. They provide only a
limited amount of information on the operation of the powers and provisions
of the Act. There is no breakdown on either the sex or the age of those
examined, detained or arrested. In addition, there have been numerous
changes in the compilation of the statistics which makes comparisons over
time difficult.
The Act initially applied "to acts of terrorism connected with the affairs
in Northern Ireland". In 1984 the legislation was extended to include "any
acts of terrorism of any other description" except those solely concerned
with the affairs of Britain. A number of key tables, however, make no
distinction between the two.
In 1990 there were 193 detentions, of which 163 or 83 per cent were
recorded as connected with Northern Ireland affairs. Over three-quarters
of the 163 detainees were released without being charged or excluded.
Since 1974 a total of 6,932 people have been detained in connection with
Northern Ireland affairs and nearly 6,000 have been released without any
action being taken against them. Figure 1 shows the number of detentions,
two-thirds of which occurred at ports and airports, and the outcome for the
years 1974 to 1990. As can been seen, although the number of detentions
declined throughout the seventies and early eighties, the percentage of
people released without being charged or excluded has remained very high
over the whole period.
Under the PTA people can be detained for up to 7 days. Of the 6,932 people
detained since 1974, one in every six were held for more than 48 hours. The
proportion, however, varied greatly between those detained at ports and
airports and those detained inland, with 1 in every 2 held inland being
detained for more than 48 hours. No adequate information is available on
the number of people held for periods of detention between 2 and 7 days.
But between 29 November, 1979 and 26 March 1984, 163 were held for more
than 3 days and released without any action and between 22 March 1984 and
31 December, 1990 another 98 were held for over 3 days, some of whom may
have been charged or excluded.
Figure 2 records what happened to those that were not released each year.
It shows that exclusion orders reached a peak in 1978 and 1979, declined
in the early 1980s and then rose again in the late 1980s. The numbers
charged under the Act rose in the late seventies and early eighties and
then declined. Those charged with other offences reflect a more varied
pattern. Of the total number detained in the whole period, 86.3% had been
released, 4.8% had been excluded, 3.1% charged with offences under the PTA,
and 5.5% charged with other offences.
Figure 3 notes the outcome of all charges brought under the PTA in
connection with Northern Ireland affairs. There are five main categories
of offence under the PTA: failure to comply with an exclusion order or
helping a person to breach one; soliciting, receiving or giving money for
either a proscribed organisation or for use in acts of terrorism;
withholding information about acts of terrorism; failure to cooperate with
examination at port; and displaying support for a proscribed organisation.
Two hundred and fourteen people were charged with these PTA offences in
the period 29 November, 1974 to 31 December, 1990 and over three quarters
were found guilty. Of these over half received non-custodial sentences. Of
those that received a custodial sentence, more than half received a
sentence of one year or less.
Figure 4 shows the outcome of charges brought under other legislation,
including 45 charges concerning international affairs. The charges cover
a wide range of offences from murder and conspiracy to cause explosions,
to theft and burglary. Of the 434 charged in Britain or ret