Only 5% of child cruelty reports end up in court
POLICE: CHILDREN’S SAFETY OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE
THE lead officer for child safety in Nottinghamshire has responded after it was revealed just five percent of all reports of child cruelty incidents led to prosecution this year.
According to the latest data from the Home Office there were 163 reports of child cruelty recorded by Nottinghamshire Police during 2020/21.
While that was down from 234 reports the year before, it has been suggested that some cases may have been missed by authorities because of the coronavirus pandemic.
This is because many children have been out of school during the numerous lockdowns, as well as self-isolating at home due to Covid19.
Child cruelty offences include assault, ill treatment, neglect or abandonment of a child by anyone over the age of 16.
They cover both physical and psychological suffering.
Detective Inspector Gail Routledge, the force lead for child safeguarding, said: “The safety and wellbeing of children is of paramount importance to Nottinghamshire Police.
“When cases of concern around potential cruelty and neglect of children are reported to us – or when our officers have reason to suspect such offences during their daily work – our primary objective is to safeguard the children involved and protect them from harm.
“Police officers have very significant powers to protect children, up-to and including temporarily removing a child from an address where they suspect them to be at risk.
“They also have the ability to raise and address concerns by issuing a Public Protection Notice (PPN) which will then be discussed and reviewed at multi-agency meetings with appropriate actions taken.
“Ultimately children can be permanently removed from their parents and carers as a result of agencies’ involvement, with or without a criminal conviction in order to safeguard that child.”
The figures come in the wake of several high-profile cases nationally, including the deaths of Star Hobson and Arthur Labinjo-hughes.
Star was just 16 months old when she killed by her mother’s girlfriend in September 2020, after suffering months of physical and psychological abuse.
And six-year-old Arthur died of a brain injury in June 2020 after being deprived of food, force-fed salt and assaulted in a “campaign of appalling cruelty” during lockdown.
In both cases social services had been alerted to potential abuse by concerned friends and family members, but ultimately failed to intervene until it was too late.
In the vast majority of child cruelty cases recorded by police nationally, no-one is charged with the crime, and Nottinghamshire is no exception. Sometimes prosecution may not result either because of a lack of evidence, if a suspect wasn’t identified, or because prosecution was prevented or deemed not in the public interest. In Nottinghamshire, eight people were prosecuted for cruelty to children in 2020/21. This equates to roughly five percent of the 163 offences recorded. Nationally, there were 24,482 cases of child cruelty reported to police forces across England and Wales in 2020/21 – a record high, up from 21,948 in 2019/20. “Clearly the pursuit of criminal convictions forms a vital part of our work but these can only be successfully pursued in cases where strong evidence of offences exists,” DI Routledge added.
“However, it is important to stress that child safeguarding cases are very rarely ‘dropped’ or discontinued. They are carefully recorded and discussed at great length with our partners in children’s social services, education provisions and health.
“Cases of this nature are also subject to ongoing review in order to keep children safe. So conviction rates alone do not fully reflect the positive outcomes that are attained for the children we support
“If members of the public are concerned about the welfare of a child I cannot stress enough how important it is to speak to the police. We are here to help and are able to do that even in cases where we are not able to bring a successful prosecution. The safety of any child is a priority to Nottinghamshire Police.”
Child safety cases are very rarely ‘dropped’ or discontinued. They are carefully recorded
DI Gail Routledge