Sexual assault convictions in the spotlight

ONE in 11 criminals convicted of sexual assault in Leicestershire last year had previously been convicted of the same offence.

Of the 63 offenders convicted for sexual assault in the police force area in the year to September 2017, six had previous convictions for the same offence.

The figures were released by the Ministry of Justice following a Freedom of Information request.

They show that over the past seven years, at least 37 offenders who had previous convictions for sexual assault have gone on to be convicted for the offence again.

These figures may include the same offender being counted more than once, if they had multiple convictions over the period.

The figures suggest the proportion of offenders with previous convictions for sexual offences may be increasing.

The 37 repeat offenders convicted since 2011 represent 9.2% of the total of 405 convictions for sexual assault.

The six convicted in the year to September 2017 represent 10.5% of the total of 63 convictions - meaning the most recent figures are above average.

In its response to the FOI request, the Ministry of Justice said sentencing decisions are a matter for the independent judiciary.

It said: “All sexual offences are abhorrent and since 2010 sentence lengths for these horrific crimes have increased by over 20 per cent.

“Our latest figures show that the conviction ratio for these offences is the highest for a decade (62 per cent), which means that the courts are successfully convicting more defendants who come before them.

“The average sentence lengths for these offences is approximately five years.”