Rape convictions hit record low as courts closed during Covid lockdown

The Crown Prosecution Service said that it had achieved only 1,109 guilty pleas or verdicts in rape cases (stock image)

(Picture: PA Archive)

The number of rapists being convicted has fallen by 330 to a record low as court closures made it harder for victims to obtain justice, figures revealed Thursday.

The Crown Prosecution Service said that it had achieved only 1,109 guilty pleas or verdicts in rape cases during the 12 months to the end of March — nearly a quarter down on the 1,439 successful rape prosecutions the previous year.

It blamed the slump on the “impact of court closures during the first lockdown” and pointed to other statistics showing an increase in charges, more referrals from police, and a rise in completed prosecutions since the summer as indications of better results in future.

Thursday’s figures show that 1,557 rape prosecutions took place across England and Wales in the year to the end of March.

Of those, 448 ended without a conviction. Cases referred to the CPS by police during the same period totalled 3,539, of which only 1,955 ended with a decision to charge.

Detectives have launched a murder investigation after a man in his twenties was stabbed to death opposite Brixton Tube station at about 8.20pm on Wednesday.

Officers have been scouring the scene and collecting CCTV footage. A man was arrested on suspicion of GBH.