FOI Illegal Abortions (0260-2022/23)

Request

Part 1

Please tell me how many females were investigated for abortion-related crimes under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act during this time.

For each of these crimes I would also like the following specific information provided:

1. The subsection of the Act the female was investigated under ie:
2. Administering drugs or using instruments to procure an abortion, or
3. Procuring drugs/instruments to cause an abortion
4. Whether the female suspect was the pregnant party, and was thus investigated on suspicion of procuring or attempting to procure her own abortion
5. The ethnicity of the suspect
6. The age of the suspect
7. The month and year the offence was recorded
8. The outcome recorded (including no outcome recorded, where relevant)

Part 2

I would also like data on how many females were investigated for intentional destruction of a viable unborn child under the 1929 Infant Life (Preservation) Act. For these crimes, please tell me:

1. Whether the female suspect was the pregnant party, and was thus investigated on suspicion of destroying her own child
2. The ethnicity of the suspect
3. The age of the suspect
4. The month and year the offence was recorded
5. The outcome recorded (including no outcome recorded, where relevant)

Please provide the data in a machine readable format. I would suggest a spreadsheet with the following columns:

A - Month

B - Calendar year

C - Offence (eg administering drugs/instrument, procuring drugs/instrument, or child destruction)

D - Pregnant party (true or false)

E - Ethnicity

F - Age

G - Outcome

Response

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. I can confirm the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.

Part 1) For the period 01 March 2014 and 31 December 2021 there has been 1 crime recorded of ‘Procuring Illegal Abortion’ recorded by North Yorkshire Police;

Financial Year	Financial Quarter	Force Name	Offence Description	Offence Group	Offence Subgroup	Offence Code	Number of Offences
2020/21	4	North Yorkshire	Procuring illegal abortion	Violence against the person	Violence without injury	14	1

This information is published upon the quarterly  Home Office crime statistics return found here; https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

Spreadsheet name - ‘Police recorded crime open data Police Force Area tables from year ending March 2013 onwards’

Context that has been previously disclosed in relation to the single crime is that the suspect in this instance was a third party performing an act against a pregnant woman.

I can further confirm that the suspect was Male.

In respect of FY 2021/22 Quarter 4 data, I can advise that there are no further crimes recorded.

I am unfortunately unable to offer any further detail on this particular matter pursuant to section 40(2) – Personal Data.

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies. Please see the relevant exemption headers below for further information.

Part 2) As published within the Home Office crime statistics, there are 0 crimes recorded by North Yorkshire Police of ‘Intentional destruction of a viable unborn child’ between 01 March 2014 and 31 December 2021.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

In respect of FY 2021/22 Quarter 4 data, I can advise that there are no further crimes recorded.

Exemptions Explained

Section 40 – Personal Information

Section 40(2) is an absolute class based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle; in that processing of personal data must be lawful and fair.

(DPA 2018 35(1), EUGDPR Article 5(1))

This exemption applies because the right given under the FOI Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.

Due to the significantly low number of relevant crimes, disclosure of any further information would enable the inadvertent identification of those involved in the matter.

In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 2018 & EU General Data Protection Regulations, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure.  In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned. 

Releasing information that could identify persons involved in crime, would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights, but it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a partial refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to your request.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.