Hampshire police ranks top of geographical forces for 'rape charges' ending up being ‘charged with alternative offence’

More than 1,600 suspected rapists reportedly ‘charged’ by police over the last five years have in fact been charged with other offences, new figures have revealed.

And excluding British Transport Police, it was Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary which ranked top of all forces for rape charges ending up being charged with different offences. Nearly a quarter of ‘charged’ outcomes in the five years ending September 2022 were in fact ‘charged with alternative offence’ in the county – more than twice the national rate and the highest proportion in the country, bar the British Transport Police, which only recorded small numbers.

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Hampshire police said ‘evidence thresholds’ could not always be met to secure rape convictions but said alternative offences were pursued to ‘achieve some measure of justice for victim-survivors’. But the force admitted it needs to ‘do more’ in the wake of the findings.

The End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) condemned the figures – uncovered through a freedom of information request by NationalWorld – as evidence the criminal justice system’s record ‘of seldom delivering justice’ for rape victims may be even worse than already feared. The investigation also raises ‘serious questions’ about the transparency of official data, it added.

Labour’s Emily Thornberry, Shadow Attorney General, described the figures as ‘hugely alarming’ and called on the government to urgently provide ‘full transparency about the reality on rape charge rates’.

In one in 10 rape cases in England and Wales in which official figures previously suggested a suspect had been charged, the alleged perpetrator was not actually charged with rape itself, we can reveal. In one year, as many as one in six suspected rapists were charged with non-rape crimes. And in some parts of the country, more than 20 per cent of charges are for other offences.

It is not known what offences the suspects were charged with instead, although the Home Office told us that ‘the facts and evidence’ must be extremely similar for forces to claim they have been charged for alternative offences. One police force we spoke to suggested some will have been historic offenders, charged with crimes that pre-date current rape laws, but it is not possible to determine how many such cases there are nationally.

What does the data show?

The Home Office publishes figures on the outcome for offences recorded by police forces across England and Wales. Since April 2017, it has been mandatory for police forces to report if a suspect was charged for a different offence than the one recorded. This could be for instance if a crime of grievous bodily harm (GBH) has been logged, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has decided to instead pursue a charge of common assault, a lesser offence.

Home Office guidance suggests it had intended to begin publishing these statistics at some point. But more than five years later, these outcomes are still lumped into one umbrella ‘suspect charged’ group. The Home Office did not reveal the reason why when asked.

A freedom of information request submitted by NationalWorld now shows that between April 2017 and September 2022, in almost 10% of rape cases that ended in a charge, the suspect was actually charged with something else. The inflation was most pronounced in the year ending September 2020, when 16% of charges, or one in six, were for alternative offences.

In the 12 months ending September 2022, police assigned an outcome to 65,007 rape cases. The official published figures put the charge rate at 5.5%, with 3,548 ending in a charge or summons. But of these, 364 were charges for an alternative offence, according to the new data. If these are excluded, the charge rate falls to 4.9%.

It was a similar story for sexual assault, with 8% of the 26,304 ‘charged’ outcomes logged since April 2017 revealed to be ‘charged for alternative offence’, affecting 1,978 cases.

The past several years have seen mounting alarm at a drop in the proportion of rape offences that end with suspects being charged and later prosecuted or convicted in court. EVAW said the government had admitted that rape victims were being failed, after it and other charities published a report into the ‘decriminalisation of rape’ in 2021. But the new figures uncovered by NationalWorld suggest the current record on charging may be even lower than the official data that had prompted the report would indicate, the charity said.

Janaya Walker, public affairs manager for EVAW, said: ‘Two years after the rape review, it is exhausting and frankly unacceptable that we are still battling these same failings and discovering new issues with data collection and transparency.’

Labour’s Emily Thornberry added: ‘These figures appear hugely alarming, and all the more so because of the background to this issue. Charge rates in rape cases have already fallen to unacceptably low levels under this government, and if it is the case – as this analysis suggests – that many of the suspects counted in the charge figures have not in fact been charged with rape, then the situation is even worse than we think.

‘We urgently need to see both full transparency from the government about the reality on rape charge rates, and then a serious plan to reverse the collapse in those rates. Action on both is essential, and for the government to continue without action on either is completely unacceptable.’

Massive variation across England and Wales

There was enormous variation in the likelihood of police logging ‘charged with alternative offence’ outcomes for rape offences. In some cases, police forces recorded no instances at all over the past five years.

But in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, 24% of ‘charged’ outcomes in the five years ending September 2022 were in fact ‘charged with alternative offence’ – more than twice the national rate and the highest proportion in the country, bar the British Transport Police, which only recorded small numbers.

Next highest was Warwickshire, at 20%. In the majority of the cases it had recorded since April 2017, the force confirmed to NationalWorld that it had been a CPS decision to proceed with a non-rape charge, but said it was satisfied the cases were investigated thoroughly and appropriate sexual offence charges were brought.

Responding to questions about whether its own data inflates rape charge rates by including cases in which charges may never have been brought for rape itself, a CPS spokesperson said: ‘We regularly publish management information to aid transparency and accountability, making clear any limitations.

‘The way we measure our rape data allows us to track and monitor trends, including decisions to take no further action, to properly scrutinise how we’re approaching rape and sexual offences cases and highlight areas for improvement. Official statistics are maintained by the Ministry of Justice.’

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘Sexual offences can have a devastating impact on victims. We are committed to ensuring that the perpetrators of these abhorrent crimes are brought to justice. For a force to claim that they have charged an alternative offence, the facts and evidence must be extremely similar, and must relate to the victim and circumstances.’

Detective superintendent at Hampshire police Ellie Hurd said: ‘We fully understand that the recent figures around charges relating to rape released by the Home Office may be challenging for those in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to read; however, we want to reassure victims of these offences that if rape and other sexual offences are reported to the police, that we take it incredibly seriously. We will treat, and do treat, victims with respect.

‘Rape and other sexual offences are some of the most complex and challenging crimes that we deal with within the criminal justice system. Our officers and staff are dedicated to achieving the best outcomes for victims. It is one of our top priorities as a force and we work incredibly closely with partners such as the Crown Prosecution Service, Treetops Sexual Assault Referral Centre, victim support and victim advocacy services in order to provide the best possible service to victims of rape and serious sexual offences.

‘Unfortunately, there are occasions where evidence thresholds cannot be met as part of our investigative enquiries which may prevent us achieving a prosecution for rape. However, we will always seek to charge perpetrators for other offences where possible to achieve some measure of justice for victim-survivors. This is likely to go some way to explaining why some rape investigations in Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary in last four years were eventually charged with an alternative offence.

‘However we know, and accept, that we need to do more to achieve rape convictions and we are committed to doing so. We will continue to work in partnership with CPS Wessex to identify offenders and get justice for victims of rape and serious sexual assault cases. We have also opted into Operation Soteria Bluestone – a national scheme aiming to transform the policing response to rape and serious sexual offences.

‘This is an opportunity to achieve real, sustainable change by taking an open and honest look at the way we work within our own organisation, alongside the wider criminal justice system and victim support services. If you have been a victim and decide to report a rape or other sexual offences to us, we want to provide you with that reassurance that we will take it very seriously. We want to inform you, empower you and support you to make choices in terms of reporting and supporting criminal investigations – working in conjunction with us – if that is what you want.

‘We're here to support you whether you're ready to report it to us or if you'd prefer to talk to someone else – for more information please visit www.hampshire.police.uk/ro/report/rsa/alpha-v1/advice/rape-sexual-assault-and-other-sexual-offences/how-to-report-rape-sexual-assault-other-sexual-offences/.’

You can contact the Rape Crisis helpline for rape and sexual abuse support for free 24/7 at 0808 500 2222 for England and Wales, and 08088 01 03 02 for Scotland. In Northern Ireland you can contact the helpline Monday to Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 0800 0246 991.

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