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<p>The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of
offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates'
courts which were flagged as involving domestic violence, rather than the number of
defendants or cases prosecuted.</p><p>The data is accurate only to the extent that
the flag has been correctly applied.</p><p>Offences of perverting the course of justice
are charged under Common Law, conspiracy to pervert justice, by way of Section 1 of
the Criminal Law Act 1977 and intimidation of a witness or juror by way of Section
51 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.</p><p>The table below shows,
for each of the last five years, the number of these offences charged and reaching
a first hearing at magistrates' courts, which were identified as involving domestic
violence.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td> </td><td><p><strong>2009-2010</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2010-2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011-2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012-2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013-2014</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Criminal
Justice and Public Order Act 1994 { 51 }: Intimidating/threatening or harming a witness
or juror</p></td><td><p>846</p></td><td><p>859</p></td><td><p>763</p></td><td><p>611</p></td><td><p>686</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Common
Law: Perverting the course of justice (including attempts)</p></td><td><p>140</p></td><td><p>136</p></td><td><p>103</p></td><td><p>121</p></td><td><p>150</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Criminal
Law Act 1977 { 1 }: Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System</strong></p><p>There is no indication
of the final prosecution outcome, or if the charged offence was the substantive charge
at the time of finalisation. It is also often the case that an individual defendant
is charged with more than one offence against the same victim.</p><p>It is not possible
to centrally disaggregate offences charged by way of Section 51 of the Criminal Justice
and Public Order Act 1994, to separately identify those offences relating to witnesses
from those concerning jurors. Such information could only be obtained through a manual
search of records which would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p>The CPS does not
hold records of sentences imposed following a conviction. Statistics relating to sentences
are maintained by the Ministry of Justice.</p><p> </p>
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