Less than one in four rape prosecutions in Derbyshire lead to convictions

Only around one in four rape cases brought to court by Derbyshire Police result in a conviction, figures show.
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Data, released by the Ministry of Justice, reveals that in 2017 only 28 per cent of Derbyshire Police’s prosecutions for rape were successful.

Last year the force brought 113 cases to court and just 32 resulted in convictions.

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The conviction rate is lower than for other sexual offences, and it’s also worse than other serious crimes such as grievous bodily harm which is 37 per cent.

Fewer than one in three rape prosecutions end in a convictionFewer than one in three rape prosecutions end in a conviction
Fewer than one in three rape prosecutions end in a conviction

Across England and Wales overall one in five rape cases are successfully prosecuted, according to the MoJ.

This data includes cases where rape is the principle or most serious offence, so incidents where the victim was killed would be counted as murder or manslaughter.

Dr Hannah Bows, senior lecturer in criminology at Teeside University, said that while it was hard to judge without knowing the details of cases, the figures were ‘particularly surprising’.

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She said: “It shows something is going wrong either with charging decisions being made by the Crown Prosecution Service or what’s happening in court.

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“Something is going wrong because the evidence required in rape cases to get a case brought to court is so high.

“Any question marks and the case is unlikely to go forward.

“That’s why it’s so frustrating when people say there are loads of false rape cases because it’s not true.”

Dr Bows is also concerned these figures will put people off from reporting rape allegations.

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She continued: “It’s a pretty horrible and pretty lengthy process anyway.

“Often the victim feels like they’re on trial.

“If someone said to you ‘do you want to have your whole life exposed for around a one in three chance of success’ you’d probably say no.”

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Dr Bows thinks there needs to be a complete reassessment of how rape cases are brought to court, as ‘what is happening now is clearly not working’.

However, the data shows that prosecutions for Derbyshire Police are getting more successful.

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In 2016, 23 per cent of rape cases brought to court resulted in convictions.

The process of rape trials has been in the news after several collapsed at the turn of the year over problems with disclosure of evidence.

A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesman said: “We recognise that rape and serious sexual offences are some of the most complex cases prosecuted by the CPS and we have worked hard in recent years to improve how we deal with these cases.

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“We have almost doubled the number of specialist prosecutors in our dedicated Rape and serious sexual offence units and improved the support we offer victims through criminal proceedings.

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“In recognition of the unique challenges involved in prosecuting these offences and taking them to trial, the CPS is focused on building strong cases with all available evidence, including CCTV, eyewitness accounts and mobile phone evidence, and supporting victims throughout the process.”