FLUFF JUSTICE
ABOUT 50 suspected crooks dodged justice every week last year because of blunders by police and prosecutors.
Accused sex fiends, robbers and burglars walked free when frustrated magistrates and judges threw out the cases because the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was not ready to start.
A total of 1,453 cases were binned last year because police files had not reached the CPS. Another 519 were scrapped due to the CPS being unprepared in some other way.
Among those who evaded justice because of paperwork blunders were 18 charged with sex offences, 94 suspected drug offenders, 45 charged with burglaries and 298 accused of assault.
Another 712 cases were scrapped at the last minute because a police officer due to give prosecution evidence failed to show up. The suspected sex offenders allowed to walk free included some charged with rape.
The total number of cases shelved because of paperwork blunders or police witnesses failing to show has risen by almost 20% in the last year, from 2,256 to 2,684. The CPS figures MATTHEW DAVIS also show that 1,762 cases were abandoned because officials decided the defendant was too old, too young or too ill to stand trial.
The data, released under the Freedom of Information Act, also shows that 191 cases were shelved by the CPS last year because it would have been forced to unmask a “grass” or disclose secret information at a trial.
News of the failed cases comes despite the fact the CPS – led by £200,000-per-year Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders – has an annual budget of £500million.
A spokesman from the charity Victim Support said: “It is unacceptable for any victim of crime not to receive justice as a result of administrative failures by the CPS or police.
“Not only can it be frightening for victims to know that their offender is free to go, but having a case dropped can cause stress, anxiety and frustration for many victims of crime.”
But a CPS spokesman hit back: “The number of cases discontinued due to the CPS being unprepared is less than 0.1% of the 637,000 cases we prosecuted last year – leading to 530,000 convictions.”