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Written question asked by Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid Cymru) on Tuesday, 10 June 2014, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 12 June 2014. It was answered by Oliver Heald (Conservative) on Tuesday, 17 June 2014 on behalf of the Attorney General.

Stalking

Question

To ask the Attorney-General how many Crown prosecution lawyers have been trained to deal with offences of stalking under sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in each Crown Prosecution Service area; and if he will make a statement.

Answer

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)has developed two online e-Learning courses on all types of stalking. The “Cyber Crime: Cyber Stalking” course includes cyber stalking, non-cyber stalking and harassment. The “Stalking and Harassment” course (which was released in April 2014) deals specifically with stalking and harassment offences, with emphasis on building a strong case, working closely with the police, appropriate charge selection, and engaging with victims throughout the legal process. The CPS maintains a central record of the number of prosecutors who have been trained to deal with stalking and harassment offences by way of the e-Learning courses.

The following data was extracted from the CPS HR Database and the online Prosecution College Database on 11 June 2014. The data is based on those barristers or solicitors who held a practising certificate in the relevant period and were employed by the CPS on 11 June 2014. The data covers the period 1 November 2012 (the month when the Cyber Stalking e-Learning module was revised to include the new stalking offences) to 11 June 2014.The data includes only those lawyers who have completed either the Cyber Stalking or Stalking and harassment e-Learning courses, including the evaluation modules, as the database records e-Learning based on completion of all elements of the course.

CPS Cyber Stalking and CPS Stalking and Harassment Completions: Lawyers by CPS Area
Group
 Area
 Completions
Casework divisions
 99
Headquarters
 15
National areas
 CPS Direct
 268
East Midlands
 91
East of England
 81
London
 195
Merseyside and Cheshire
 36
North East
 72
North West
 121
South East
 50
South West
 41
Thames and Chiltern
 115
Wales/Cymru
 65
Wessex
 28
West Midlands
 55
Yorkshire and Humberside
 108
POCU
 7
Grand total
 1,447

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
199868; 582 cc551-3W
Session
2014-15
Subjects
Crown Prosecution Service Training Stalking
Legislation
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk