Stalking: Sentencing

(asked on 10th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the length of custodial sentences for people who have committed stalking offences.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 15th March 2021

Stalking is a terrible, insidious crime that can have a devastating impact on victims’ wellbeing. This Government is committed to protecting and supporting victims and is determined to do everything we can to stop perpetrators at the earliest opportunity.

In 2012 the Government created two stalking offences to highlight stalking as a specific behaviour, and through the Policing and Crime Act 2017 the maximum sentences for both stalking and harassment were raised from 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment. There are currently no plans to make further changes to the maximum sentences for stalking offences. Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts. When deciding what sentence to impose, within the maximum available for the offence, the courts take into account the circumstances of the offence and any aggravating and mitigating factors. The courts are also required to follow any relevant sentencing guidelines, developed by the independent Sentencing Council.

In January 2020 we introduced new civil Stalking Protection Orders to protect victims of stalking at the earliest possible opportunity and address the perpetrator’s behaviours before they become entrenched or escalate in severity. A breach of this order carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment.

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