Homicide: Prosecutions

Question

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) holds management information on its Case Management System showing the number of defendants allocated the Principal Offence Category of Homicide at completion of prosecution. Please note that homicide consists of a range of offences, including, among others:

• Murder
• Attempted murder
• Conspiring or soliciting to commit murder
• Manslaughter (corporate, gross negligence, unlawful act)
• Infanticide
• Child destruction
• Aiding or assisting suicide
• Causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult
• Causing death by careless or dangerous driving
• Manslaughter due to diminished responsibility
• Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking

The Principal Offence Category indicates the most serious offence with which a defendant is charged.

The table below shows the number of completed prosecutions and convictions for homicide from the start of January 2005 to the end of September 2015. The data provided in the table is in financial quarters.

‘Total completed prosecutions’ refer to the conclusion of a prosecution case against a defendant such as conviction after trial, guilty plea, acquittal, or the prosecution against the defendant being dropped. ‘Convictions’ refer to convictions after trial and guilty pleas.