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<p>Section 51 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 creates two offences:</p><p>S.51(1)
creates an offence directed at acts against a person who assists in an investigation
of an offence or who is a witness or potential witness or juror or potential juror
whilst an investigation or trial is in progress</p><p>S.51(2) creates an offence directed
at acts against a person who assisted in an investigation of an offence or who was
a witness or juror after an investigation or trial has been concluded.</p><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 the magistrates’ courts, rather
than the number of defendants prosecuted. A single defendant may be prosecuted for
multiple offences.</p><p>The number of offences charged under s.51(1) and s.51(2)
are as follows:</p><br /><table><tbody><tr><td><p><br></p></td><td><p><br></p></td><td><p>2010-2011</p></td><td><p>2011-2012</p></td><td><p>2012-2013</p></td><td><p>2013-2014</p></td><td><p>2014-2015</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Criminal
Justice and Public Order Act 1994 51(1)</p></td><td><p>Intimidate a witness / juror</p></td><td><p>3,275</p></td><td><p>2,630</p></td><td><p>2,148</p></td><td><p>2,066</p></td><td><p>2,202</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Criminal
Justice and Public Order Act 1994 51(2)</p></td><td><p>Do an act which harmed a witness
/ juror</p></td><td><p>102</p></td><td><p>166</p></td><td><p>99</p></td><td><p>72</p></td><td><p>109</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Criminal
Justice and Public Order Act 1994 51(2)</p></td><td><p>Threaten a witness / juror</p></td><td><p>240</p></td><td><p>172</p></td><td><p>118</p></td><td><p>122</p></td><td><p>129</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br
/><p>The proportion of CPS cases that result in a guilty plea has increased from 67.2%
in 10/11 to 74.5% in 14/15 which means that there are fewer cases that are likely
to be subject to the sorts of acts covered by s.51(1) during the course of the prosecution.</p><p>Also,
s.51(1) covers intimidation of juror or potential jurors. The number of crown court
trials have also been reducing over the period in question by 9.5%, again resulting
in fewer cases where S.51(1) offences are likely to apply.</p>
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