Domestic abuse cases at new low as complaints double

PROSECUTIONS for domestic violence have fallen to a record low, despite a near-doubling in the number of complaints by victims over the same period, figures from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) show.

The victims’ and domestic abuse commissioners will this week write to Home Secretary Priti Patel, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland and Suella Braverman, the Attorney General, urging them to look at why prosecution rates are falling so dramatically.

They will warn that victims of domestic violence are losing confidence in the ability of the criminal justice system to bring their attackers to justice.

The move will increase pressure on the CPS, which is already under fire over the fall in rape convictions to a record low as sex crimes have reached their highest level.

Police chiefs suggested last week that the bar for the standard of evidence required by the CPS to charge a suspect and get a case into court had been raised. Women’s charities have complained the CPS weeds out “weak cases”, a charge it denies.

Charities said delays of up to 18 months in bringing domestic abusers before the courts and patchy specialist support for victims who may fear revenge attacks were key factors in up to 50 per cent not proceeding with prosecutions after the original allegation.

Dame Vera Baird, victims’ commissioner, and Nicole Jacobs, domestic abuse commissioner, said: “We know the vast majority of victims and survivors never report to the police.

“It is so important we give them the confidence to feel that if they report, they will be protected and swift action will be taken to hold their perpetrators to account. How do we build this confidence in the light of these figures?”

The CPS figures show that prosecutions for domestic abuse have fallen by a third from 92,779 in 2014-15 to 61,169 in the 12 months to March this year. They were down 22 per cent in the last year, from 78,624 in 2018-19.

At the same time the number of cases referred to the CPS by police for domestic abuse also fell, from 126,461 in 2014-15 to 79,965 in 2019-20.