Violent crimes are dealt with apology
MORE than 1,000 violent crimes in Leicestershire were dealt with just an apology in the last year.
The total included serious assaults that resulted in injury, as well as cases of child cruelty, harassment, stalking and threats to kill.
Figures from the Home Office reveal that there were 29,465 violent offences dealt with by the courts in Leicestershire in the year to June 2019.
Of those, 1,154 were settled out of court in what’s known as a “community resolution” - an informal settlement that can include offenders apologising to victims or paying compensation for any criminal damage.
It means the offender escapes prosecution or a formal warning.
Most of the violent crimes that led to a community resolution in Leicestershire did not result in injury - in line with the guidelines.
However, nearly one in every three were more serious cases that did involve injury - 331 violent crimes in total.
They included 327 cases of assault with injury, two of assault with injury on a constable and two of assault with intent to cause serious harm.
Other crimes deemed not to have caused injury included 467 cases of assault without injury, 198 of harassment, 99 of malicious communications, 29 of threats to kill, 11 of stalking, 10 of assault without injury to a constable, four of racially or religiously aggravated harassment, three of racially or religiously aggravated assault without injury and two of cruelty to children.
Community resolutions only make up a small proportion of violent crime outcomes - working out as just 4% of all those that went through the system in Leicestershire in the last year.
In fact, offenders are far more likely to simply get away with their crime altogether.
In the year to June 2019, some 24,720 violent crimes in Leicestershire were dropped completely - either because no suspect was identified, there were evidential difficulties, or prosecution was prevented or deemed not in the public interest.
It means in more than four in five cases, someone who has committed a violent crime faces no consequences whatsoever.