Priti Patel number of
PRITI Patel has warned police chiefs that rape investigations must improve “drastically”.
In a stinging letter sent to every chief constable, the Home Secretary said forces must reverse historically low prosecution rates in rape cases.
She told them: “Victims of these heinous crimes deserve nothing less.”
Ms Patel warned the quality of investigations into sex attacks has been declining amid “strained relationships” between police and prosecutors, an increase in digital evidence which the service has not kept up with, and communication difficulties.
The Government yesterday apologised to tens of thousands of rape victims who have “gone without justice” and are being failed.
Ministers want to move away from “the obsessive focus on the credibility of the victim”, and police will instead be told to focus on the suspect’s offending history.
In a damning indictment of the criminal justice system, a report by the Government published yesterday stated: “Victims feel let down at every stage.”
Rape victims have repeatedly told how they feel as if their lives are being put on trial by officers during interviews and a “digital strip search”, where police and prosecutors trawl through their phones.
Ashamed
The report said that compounding a sense of isolation, victims were left “without phones for months, leaving them without vital support at a time of immense trauma”.
Just 1,439 suspects were convicted of rape in England and Wales last year – the lowest level since records began, and down from 1,925 the previous year.
Over the same time period, police recorded 59,747 rapes, according to Home Office figures – with the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimating there were 128,000 victims of rape or attempted rape.
Around 13 per cent of reported rape cases in 2015-16 ended in a suspect being charged, dropping to just 1.5 per cent in 2019-20.
The Home Secretary, in a letter to police chief constables seen by the Daily Express, said: “The inherent challenges in investigating rape cases have been exacerbated in recent years by societal changes such as the increased prevalence of digital technologies.
“However, policing has not kept pace with these changes.
“I am clear that things need to drastically and quickly improve.”
The review found several things contributed to fewer cases being solved, including cuts to police and prosecutor budgets, too few detec
tives, huge staff turnover, higher workloads as the number of rapes reported to police increased, and increased use of less experienced staff in the CPS and police.
Ministers insist they are trying to strengthen the efficiency of the criminal justice system.
In a joint statement, Ms Patel, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland and Attorney General Michael Ellis admitted: “The vast majority of victims do not see the crime against them charged and reach a court: one in two victims withdraw from rape investigations.
“These are trends of which we are deeply ashamed. Victims of rape are being failed.
“We owe it to every person whose life has been changed forever by rape to make these changes happen.
“Now is the time for us to step up, to do better, and to deliver lasting improvements to the way we investigate and prosecute rape.”