Home > About us > Publications > Children in court > Evidence in sexual/non-sexual cases

Children in court - Part 2

Appendix II

These figures contrast results for children giving evidence in sexual and non-sexual cases.

Analysis of charges (by number of children)

Original Charges	1994	1995
Sexual	314	359
Other charges	139	173
Non-Specific	8	7
No of Children	461	539

Analysis by age

Age	Sexual Charges		Other Charges
	1994	1995	1994	1995
4 - 10	74	76	8	17
11 - 13	97	122	30	42
14 - 17	143	161	99	114
(Total no of children)	314	359	139	173

Analysis by gender

Gender	Sexual Charges		Other Charges
	1994	1995	1994	1995
Male	64	184	75	101
Female	250	269	63	63
Not recorded	0	6	1	9
(Total no of children)	314	359	139	173

Analysis by whether or not the child received a pre-trial visit

Pre-trial visit received	Sexual Charges		Other Charges
	1994	1995	1994	1995
Yes	219	269	26	61
No	92	80	111	103
Not Known	3	10	2	9
Total no of children	314	359	139	173

Analysis by the method of recording the child's evidence

a. Statemented Evidence	Sexual Charges		Other Charges
	1994	1995	1994	1995
Written statement made	105	97	121	152
......read by child at court	N/Rec	86	N/Rec	136
.....not read by child at court	N/Rec	3	N/Rec	10
.....N/K if statement read	N/Rec	8	1	6

N/K = not known

b. Videotaped Evidence	Sexual Charges		Other Charges
	1994	1995	1994	1995
Video made by Police	191	241	9	21
....... seen by child pre-trial	112	169	2	13
....... not seen by child pre-trial	57	29	5	5
....... transcript read	N/Rec	4	0	1
N/K if video seen pre-trial	22	39	2	2

c. Video as evidence-in-chief	Sexual Charges		Other Charges
	1994	1995	1994	1995
(No of videos made in total)	191	241	9	21
Video used as evidence-in-chief	108	133	2	11
Video not used as evidence-in-chief and ..............	72	97	5	10
a. where the child gave evidence live or ............	40	31	0	0
b. where the child did not give evidence at all	32	61	5	10
Not known if video used	11	5	2	0

	Sexual Charges		Other Charges
	1994	1995	1994	1995
d. Recording method for child's evidence not known	18	21	9

Children Required as witnesses

Required as Witness	Sexual Charges		Other Charges
	1994	1995	1994	1995
Yes	250(80%)	254(71%)	75(54%)	82(47%)
No	64(20%)	102(28%)	64(46%)	91(53%)
Not Known	0	3(1%)	0	0
(Total no of children)	314	359	139	173

Analysis by outcome of trial (1995 only)

Disposal of trial	Total No of Trials
	Sexual	Other
	1995 Only
Conviction	74	19
Acquittal	47	12
Trial Adjourned	16	18
Trial Collapsed	15	7
Guilty Plea	26	23
Not Known	10	10

Analysis by how long the child waited in the court building by number of children

a. Before either giving evidence or being released

Time waited	Sexual Charges		Other Charges
	1994	1995	1994	1995
0 - 30 mins	34	12	2	1
½ - 1 hour	14	14	9	6
1 - 2 hours	41	62	24	21
2 - 4 hours	84	103	52	73
4 - 6 hours	52	70	26	35
Over 1 day	74	63	22	32
Not Known	9	33	4	5
Not called to court	6	2	0	0
Total Number of children	314	359	139	173

b. Total time spent in the building before being released. The child was either not required to give evidence or released after giving evidence

Duration	Sexual Charges		Other Charges
	1994	1995	1994	1995
0 - 30 mins	2	2	1	0
½ - 1 hour	3	0	4	2
1 - 2 hours	19	25	23	12
2 - 4 hours	67	72	46	70
4 - 6 hours	91	138	28	41
Over 1 day	118	91	33	39
Not Known	8	29	4	9
Not called to give evidence	6	2	0	0
Total no children	314	359	139	173

Analysis by the status of the child

Status of child	1995 Only
	Sexual Charges	Other Charges
Victim/Witness	253	65
Other Prosecution Witness	92	104
Defence Witness	7	2
Not Known	7	2
(Total no of children)	359	173

© DD & JA lait & J Chandler 1996

Home > About us > Publications > Children in court > Evidence in sexual/non-sexual cases