18 1GM Friday July 31 2020 | the times
News
Rape prosecutions have dropped by
more than 30 per cent over the past
12 months, resulting in the lowest num-
ber of convictions for at least five years.
The revelation caused anger among
women’s rights campaigners, who ac-
cused Max Hill, QC, the director of
public prosecutions, of overseeing the
effective “decriminalisation of rape”.
Mr Hill will face further pressure
after the Court of Appeal gave cam-
paigners the go-ahead to challenge
what they say is a change of Crown
Prosecution Service policy that raised
the evidence bar required to bring cases
Anger after prosecutions for rape fall by 30%
Jonathan Ames Legal Editor to court. Yesterday officials at the CPS
revealed that 2,102 rape allegations
were prosecuted over the past
12 months compared with 3,034 in
2018-19 — a fall of nearly 31 per cent.
Campaigners claimed that the 1,
convictions obtained last year were the
lowest number ever for a 12-month
period, and CPS statistics confirm that
it is the lowest figure in five years.
The conviction rate for rape over the
past year was 68.5 per cent, meaning
that almost a third of defendants were
acquitted. Nonetheless, conviction
rates have improved over the past five
years: in 2015 it was about 57 per cent
and last year it was about 63.5 per cent.
However, the rising conviction rate is
likely to reflect the allegedly higher evi-
dential bar for bringing cases to trial.
“A survivor five years ago had a much
better chance of seeing justice done,”
said Harriet Wistrich, director of the
Centre for Women’s Justice.
Release of the figures coincided with
the challenge to a ruling in March that
denied permission for a full judicial
review of an alleged change in rape
charging policy at the CPS. The appeal
judges gave two groups — the End Vio-
lence Against Women Coalition and
the Centre for Women’s Justice — ap-
proval to bring a judicial review claim.
It alleges that prosecutors “covertly”watered down policy on rape claims,
resulting in hundreds of cases being
dropped. Campaigners say the new
policy “discriminates against women
and girls”, and has led to prosecutors
breaching the rights of alleged victims.
The CPS said: “Decisions to prose-
cute are based on whether our legal tests
are met and we always seek to prosecute
where there is sufficient evidence.”
Sarah Green, the director of End Vio-
lence Against Women, said: “We have
seen a vacuum of leadership and ac-
countability within the CPS when it
comes to rape, with no recognition of
the harm done.”
Mr Hill also announced the CPS’s up-dated blueprint for prosecution of rape
and serious sexual offences, which said
that “clear, proportionate legal advice”
must be given to the police “to help
focus on reasonable lines of inquiry”.
He said the CPS supported a review
of how sexual offences were handled,
and “is committed to making progress”.
Ms Wistrich said: “This decision by
the Court of Appeal will allow a proper
examination of the CPS approach.
They have accepted it is arguable that
the CPS did change their policy.”
A CPS spokeswoman said: “There
has been no change of approach. We
prosecute whenever our legal test is
met.”The number of suspensions from
schools has risen to a 13-year high, with
the figures driven up by the same pupils
repeatedly removed from the class-
room, official figures show.
Fixed-period exclusions rose from
410,800 in 2017-18 to 438,300 last year.
Head teachers say this is due to a
squeeze on budgets and cuts to services
which mean that there is no help for
children struggling to behave in class.
Persistent disruptive behaviour
remains the most common reason for
suspensions, but there has also been a
rise in other causes, including physical
assaults against pupils, racial abuse and
drug and alcohol-related incidents.
The rise was driven “most strongly”
by more pupils getting repeated fixed-
term exclusions. A total of 84,
pupils had two or more suspensions in
2018-19, an increase from 78,900 in
2017-18. The number of permanent
expulsions fell, however, to 7,894 in
2018-19, down from 7,905 in 2017-18,
the Department for Education
figures show. This is equivalent to 41
children expelled every day in England.
Poorer pupils who were entitled to
free school meals were about four times
more likely to be excluded permanentlythan their classmates. Layla Moran, the
Liberal Democrat education spokes-
woman, said: “Every year thousands of
children — often the most vulnerable
— are being written off by our educa-
tion system.”
Ms Moran, who is calling for a review
of exclusions, added: “This government
should be ashamed that they have
presided over high rates of permanent
exclusion. We need to see action to ad-
dress the disproportionate number of
exclusions among pupils on free school
meals, as well as black Caribbean, gypsy
and Roma, and Traveller pupils.”
Black children have higher suspen-
sion rates than other children in about
two thirds of the country.
Anne Longfield, the children’s com-
missioner for England, said: “With
many children out of school for six
months as a result of the lockdown, I
am worried that some will struggle to
adjust to being back and that there
could be a further rise in exclusions.
That is why I have called for an NHS-
funded counsellor in every school.”
6 Almost half of the poorest pupils in
London got into university last year,
figures from the Department for Edu-
cation show. It found that 49 per cent of
them started degrees compared with a
26.3 per cent average for England.Head teachers blame cuts as
41 children expelled each day
Rosemary Bennett Education Editor
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