Rapes soar 20% and not

RAPES recorded by the Met have risen by almost 20 per cent in a year and policing chiefs have warned that the new figures could reflect a genuine increase in sex attacks in the capital.

Police recorded 7,613 rapes in the 12 months to the end of January compared with 6,392 for the previous year.

Rises in recorded rapes have in the past been attributed to increased confidence among victims to report crimes, rather than a growth in the number of attacks.

But London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Sophie Linden, has warned that the latest figures could point to an “increase in actual sexual violence and rape offending”. Met Deputy Commissioner Sir Craig Mackey also said that “there is something going on with sexual offending in London” and that a rise in the number of attacks was one possible explanation.

Asked at a London Assembly hearing if he had any idea what was behind the rise, Sir Craig said: “No, is the honest answer. It’s not as simple as saying this is increased confidence. Of course, that plays a part but there is something going on with sexual offending in London that we don’t fully understand, the causes of it. We see the end of it, [but] we don’t understand the causes.”

Ms Linden agreed that the rise could not only be explained by a greater willingness to report crimes.

The figures, from the Mayor’s Office