Prosecutions
(asked on 18th February 2022) - View Source
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of prosecutions have been suspended once charges have been made as a result of a victim (a) not providing evidence or (b) withdrawing in each of the last five years.
The below table sets out the number and percentage of Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) cases over the last five years where a non-conviction outcome occurred due to complainant/victim issue.
| 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | |
Complainant/Victim Issues | 20,774 | 17,811 | 15,399 | 11,713 | 9,609 |
|
% of Total Prosecutions | 3.5% | 3.3% | 3.1% | 2.6% | 2.6% |
|
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | ||||||
Non-conviction outcomes involving complainant/Victim issues occur when one or all of the following apply: failure to attend or refusal to be called to give evidence, withdrawal of a complaint, including cases where complainants/victims have been intimidated but it is inappropriate to compel them to attend court and if the evidence of a complainant/victim fails to support the prosecution of the defendant, including issues of credibility, but there has been no retraction.