Worst-performing police force solves just one in 140 rape cases

ONLY one in 140 rapes are being solved in the worst-performing police force, figures show.

A rape victim’s chances of their attacker being prosecuted can double depending on which side of a street they live, the data reveal.

Only 0.7 per cent of rapes reported to Wiltshire Police resulted in a charge or summons, according to Home Office data for the three years from 2018-19 to 2020-21. The best-performing force, Durham, had more than 10 times the success rate, with 7.1 per cent of rapes resulting in a charge.

Cleveland, the force next door to Durham, solved half as many rape cases, according to figures compiled from Home Office data by Gavin Hales, a researcher at the Police Foundation.

Dame Vera Baird, the victims’ commissioner, warned that women were being deterred from reporting street harassment because of “pathetic and terrifying” rape prosecution rates.

“In Cleveland, next door to Durham, a prosecution is half as likely (3.8 per cent) though two victims could be raped in the same street that straddles the county boundary,” she said. “There is no difference between rape in Durham and rape in Wiltshire or Cleveland. It is the same very damaging, sometimes life-scarring crime.

“What is different is the effort and skill put into investigating and prosecuting rape by some forces over others.

And let’s be clear none of these figures are anything but appallingly low.

Wiltshire said it had been “working hard” to improve outcomes. “We are seeing more cases referred to CPS more quickly. We are also increasing the number of perpetrators being charged and prosecuted,” a spokesman said.