Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of offences under S222 Air Navigation Order 2009, England and Wales, 2010 to 2014 ⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾

Statute

Offence

Outcome

2010 ⁽³⁾

2011

2012

2013

2014

Air Navigation Order 2009, AA.221(a) & (b), 222 & 241(5) & Sch 13 Part B

Exhibiting, directing or shining a light which by its glare or liability to be mistaken for an aeronautical ground light would endanger aircraft

Proceeded against

30

54

37

23

21

Found guilty

26

47

27

21

19

Conviction ratio ⁽⁴⁾

87%

87%

73%

91%

90%

(1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

(3) Data for 2010 includes other offences related to lasers which cannot be separately analysed.

(4) The conviction ratio is calculated as the number of convictions as a proportion of the number of proceedings.

Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.

Ref: PQ 32959