Politics

Rape scandal as victims now wait six months longer for justice than 10 years ago


Rape victims wait SIX MONTHS longer for justice than they did a decade ago.

In 2009 it took an average of 321 days from charges being brought to the completion of a trial. That time has risen to 495 days, new figures show.

And the proportion of rapes prosecuted has fallen to just 1.4 per cent. Four in 10 victims ­abandon cases because of police demands to see mobile phones and medical records.

One in seven do not go ahead because of ­“evidential difficulties”.

Yvette Cooper MP says the scale of cuts to policing is undermining justice

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Katie Russell of Rape Crisis said: “This unacceptable situation has gone beyond urgent. The criminal justice system is failing victims of sexual violence in a way that would not be tolerated with any other type of ­serious crime.”

Labour ’s Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “The scale of cuts to policing is undermining justice. These ­figures are stark evidence of that.”

Solicitor General Michael Ellis said the time it takes to get to trial has increased for all crimes due to “greater complexity and the increase in ­electronic material”.

But he admitted burglary cases only take six weeks longer than they did in 2009.





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