Written Question · S5W-35376 · Session 5
Whether details of convictions regarding common assaults of emergency workers will be published under their own category as part of the upc…
The question
To ask the Scottish Government whether details of convictions regarding common assaults of emergency workers will be published under their own category as part of the upcoming Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistics.
The answer
Crimes and offences are grouped in the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistics to provide a high level overview. These groups have been chosen in consultation with users. Proceedings and convictions for assaults against emergency workers over the past ten years are currently published in supplementary tables alongside the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland publication. These tables present proceedings and convictions under sections 1, 2, 3, and 5 of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005, section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967, and Section 90 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. The latter two acts cover assaults against police officers, although the last also includes obstruction of a police officer. It is possible to further disaggregate proceedings and convictions under Section 90 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 into assaults against officers and obstructing officers.
The supplementary tables can be found under the supporting files tab of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2018-19 publication webpage or directly accessed at the following link:
https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2020/03/criminal-proceedings-scotland-2018-19/documents/additional-tables-ewa-2018-19/additional-tables-ewa-2018-19/govscot%3Adocument/additional-tables-ewa-2018-19.xlsx
We will publish these tables again alongside the next publication.
Note that the Criminal Proceedings statistics present the numbers of persons proceeded against and convicted, not number of charges. Someone may be convicted of multiple charges in the same case but be counted only once in the conviction statistics. Where the crime is given, this is for the main charge in a proceeding, which is the charge that received the highest penalty or is deemed to be the most serious crime. Therefore some assaults against emergency workers may not appear in the statistics as they were an additional charge to a main charge. Assaults may also be prosecuted under common law of assault, which cannot be distinguished as being against an emergency worker in the Criminal Proceedings statistics.
The supplementary tables can be found under the supporting files tab of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2018-19 publication webpage or directly accessed at the following link:
https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2020/03/criminal-proceedings-scotland-2018-19/documents/additional-tables-ewa-2018-19/additional-tables-ewa-2018-19/govscot%3Adocument/additional-tables-ewa-2018-19.xlsx
We will publish these tables again alongside the next publication.
Note that the Criminal Proceedings statistics present the numbers of persons proceeded against and convicted, not number of charges. Someone may be convicted of multiple charges in the same case but be counted only once in the conviction statistics. Where the crime is given, this is for the main charge in a proceeding, which is the charge that received the highest penalty or is deemed to be the most serious crime. Therefore some assaults against emergency workers may not appear in the statistics as they were an additional charge to a main charge. Assaults may also be prosecuted under common law of assault, which cannot be distinguished as being against an emergency worker in the Criminal Proceedings statistics.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S5W-35376 by reference.