NCJ Number
173461
Date Published
1994
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Statistics on cases sentenced by higher courts in New South Wales between January 1990 and July 1993 indicated the top 20 offenses in New South Wales accounted for almost two-thirds of criminal matters dealt with by higher courts.
Abstract
About 75 percent of all offenses dealt with by higher courts were prosecuted under the Crimes Act of 1900, and a further 15 percent were dealt with under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act of 1985. The 20 most frequent offenses accounted for 65.7 percent of all higher court cases. The most common types of offenses dealt with by higher courts were drug offenses (13.5 percent), breaking and entering (11.9 percent), assault (10.8 percent), robbery (9.4 percent), theft (7.7 percent), sexual assault (4.1 percent), white- collar crime (3 percent), culpable driving (2.6 percent), and escape (1.9 percent). For 13 of the top 20 offenses, a prison term was the most likely penalty to be imposed. In six more offenses, common law bonds represented the most likely penalty to be imposed. The only exception was culpable driving resulting in death, where 28 percent of offenders received a community service order. More than one-third of the most frequent offenses in higher courts also appeared as frequent offenses in local courts, including common assault, larceny, cultivating a prohibited plant, breaking and entering, and robbery. 2 tables and 10 figures