FACT SHEET EIGHTEEN

DRUNKENNESS OFFENCES, 1993

Arrests and cautions for drunkenness continued to fall in 1993, latest statistics from the Home Office show. 59,900 people in England and Wales were found guilty or cautioned for drunkenness offences, 8,900 fewer than in 1992 and a drop  from the peak of 93,900 in 1988. The report points out that such falls may reflect changes in police practice as well as actual changes in the level of drunkenness and so cannot be read as an indicator of declining problems. As in previous years, the peak age for such offences is 19 for both men and women. Men outnumber women in every age group and for every category of offence. Of all offenders, 91% (54,550) were men. Only among the 10 to 17 year olds did the proportion of female offenders rise above 10%, with young women forming about 14% of the offenders in this age group.

Underage drinking

The number of young people under 18 found guilty or cautioned for buying alcohol fell from 2,310 in 1989 to 370 in 1993. Similarly the number found guilty or cautioned for selling alcohol to under 18 year olds fell from 1,050 in 1989 to 240 in 1993. Again this seems to owe more to changing police priorities than to increasing abstemiousness among young people.

Drink-driving offences

Number founds guilty / cautioned for driving after consuming alcohol feel from over 105,000 in 1988 to 80,832 in 1993. 24 people were found guilty of causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, a new offence created by the Road Traffic Act 1991.