Silent Crime: Stalking prosecutions at record high but there may be more victims

It comes as the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) calls on police forces across the country to take urgent action to improve how they handle stalking reports and victims.

The IOPC report, in response to a ‘super-complaint’ by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust on behalf of the National Stalking Consortium, found police responses were "not good enough and victims were being let down" in many cases.

The most recent figures from the Ministry of Justice show 109 stalking crimes were prosecuted against in South Yorkshire, including breaches of stalking orders and racially or religiously motivated stalking.

It was a 25 per cent increase, from 87 prosecutions the year before, and the highest since records began in 2010.

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Across England and Wales, there was a record number of prosecutions against stalking offences last year, reaching 3,166, which was a 27 per cent increase on the year before.

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust filed a super-complaint, which allows designated bodies to raise issues that could affect public confidence in policing, two years ago.

Saskia Garner, head of policy and campaigns at the charity, said the real number of victims is much higher than those that are reported to the police and end in a trial.

She said: "Data shows that for the year ending March 2023, only an equivalent of 1.7 per cent of reports to the police ended in a conviction.

“This discrepancy is why we submitted a super-complaint against the police in 2022 on behalf of the National Stalking Consortium, highlighting that there are systemic issues in the way police and other criminal justice agencies are handling stalking cases nationally."

Of the 109 prosecutions in South Yorkshire, 78 resulted in a sentence, 22 of those involving prison, for an average length of 12 months.

A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesperson said: "Stalking consumes a victim's world; they are forced to change their daily routines and often are left in fear of their life.

"We are continuing to work closely with police to build a picture of a suspect’s manipulative behaviour and actions to present a robust case in court while utilising protective orders to safeguard victims from repeat offending."

They added the CPS does not "underestimate the devastating impact this has on victims".

The recent Crime Survey for England and Wales by the Office for National Statistics shows around one in seven people aged 16 years and older in England and Wales have been a victim of stalking at least once.

It found women and young people were more likely to be a victim.

Separately, South Yorkshire Police recorded 19,400 stalking and harassment crimes in the year to March–down from 20,500 the year before.

Police forces across England and Wales recorded a 10 per cent decline in stalking and harassment crimes, with 637,700 in 2023-24.

Responding to the IOPC report, Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips said: "Behind the findings in this report are heartbreaking testimonies from victims. Stalking is an insidious crime that can leave survivors traumatised."

She added the Government is "actively considering" the recommendations in the report, looking at how it can work with the police to overhaul the response to this crime and "put more perpetrators behind bars".

The Star and its sister titles across the country launched a ’Silent Crime’ awareness raising campaign last month, aimed at shining a light on the number of offences going unreported to the police.

The aim is to illustrate what life is like for communities and victims when offenders get away with it.

Our findings will be presented to the Prime Minister.