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Written question asked by Steve Reed (Labour) on Tuesday, 17 January 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 19 January 2023. It was answered by Michael Tomlinson (Conservative) on Wednesday, 25 January 2023 on behalf of the Attorney General.

Stalking

Question

To ask the Attorney General, how many people charged with stalking offences had been previously convicted of such offences in each of the last 30 years for which figures are available.

Answer

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 created the offence of harassment and latterly, as amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, stalking. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 came into effect on 25 November 2012 and introduced two new offences of stalking, by way of Section 2A and Section 4A, into the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any data which shows the number of defendants charged with and prosecuted for offences of stalking or the number of these who were previously convicted of similar offences. However, management information is held showing the number of offences of stalking in which a prosecution commenced from each year from 2013/14. The table below shows the number of these offences to the latest available year, 2021/22.

2013-2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

2017-2018

2018-2019

2019-2020

2020-2021

2021-2022

Protection from Harassment Act 1997 { 2A(1) and (4) }

529

676

643

510

921

1,246

1,257

1,326

1,741

Protection from Harassment Act 1997 { 4A(1)(a)(b)(i) and (5) }

65

133

128

83

172

313

331

424

563

Protection from Harassment Act 1997 { 4A(1)(a)(b)(ii) and (5) }

149

294

331

366

523

649

700

762

1,046

Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

The figures relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants. It is often the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same complainant. No data are held showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation. The official statistics relating to crime and policing are maintained by the Home Office and the official statistics relating to sentencing, criminal court proceedings, offenders brought to justice, the courts and the judiciary are maintained by the Ministry of Justice.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
125375
Session
2022-23
Related items
Stalking: Prosecutions
Tuesday, 18 July 2023
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Stalking
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk