Fewer crimes lead to charge in Nottinghamshire

Home Office figures show there were 103,599 crimes reported to Nottinghamshire Police in the year to September 2022 – 7,582, 7.3 per cent, of which led to a charge or summons, down from 9.1 per cent in the year to September 2021.

Possession of weapons offences had the highest prosecution rate in Nottinghamshire, with 34.1 per cent of crimes leading to a charge or summons, while sexual offences had the lowest, at just 2.8 per cent.

Across England and Wales, sexual offences have been in the spotlight due to low prosecution rates and a surge in the number of offences recorded.

Rape has the lowest charge rate across all crimes, with just 1.6 per cent of 70,633 offences recorded by police leading to prosecution across the two countries in the year to September 2022.

More than 40 per cent of rape investigations were closed because the victim did not support further police action.

In Nottinghamshire, the charge rate for all sexual offences has fallen from 7.4 per cent in the year to September 2021.

Diana Fawcett, chief executive of charity Victim Support, said: “This huge rise in recorded sexual offences comes as the percentage of cases seeing justice has plummeted to an abysmal new low.

“Charges for rape and sexual offences have been falling sharply for the past six years. The system is in crisis.”

For all types of crime, the figures show just 5.5 per cent of offences in England and Wales resulted in a charge or summons in the year to September 2022, down from 6 per cent a year before.

The rate of prosecutions has generally declined over the years and is now less than half the percentage in the year to September 2015 (14 per cent).

Chris Philp, policing, crime and fire minister pointed to reductions in a number of different types of crime, such as burglaries, serious violence and murder, but said “there is much more to do” to protect women and girls.

He said: “With huge efforts under way across the criminal justice system, we are now starting to see signs of improvement in the number of charges and prosecutions.”

Nottinghamshire Police have been approached for comment.