Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what the Crown Prosecution Service’s conviction rate for crimes committed under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 was in each of the last five years.
The Solicitor-General (Oliver Heald): The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted. It is not possible to ascertain the number of convictions obtained without examining individual case files which would incur a disproportionate cost.
CPS collects information about the number of defendants prosecuted for rape: offences contrary to sections 1 and 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956, sections 1, 5 and 30(3) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, and attempts, incitement or conspiracy to commit the above offences.
The percentage of convictions of such defendants is shown in the following table.
PercentageEmily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many prosecutions the Crown Prosecution Service has conducted under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in each of the last five years.
The Solicitor-General: The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identify the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in magistrates courts, rather than the number of defendants prosecuted. The following table shows, in each of the last five years, the number of offences charged under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Rape).
Number