West Mercia crime suspects almost twice as likely to avoid court as four years ago

New figures show that fewer than one in 11 crimes will result in a suspect appearing before a court, 47 per cent down compared to four years before.

Home Office data shows that just nine per cent of crimes resulted in a suspect being charged or summonsed to appear before a court in 2018/19. This compares to 17 per cent in 2014/15.

Councillor Richard Overton, cabinet minister for enforcement at Telford & Wrekin Council, said the figures were 'pathetic' and blamed a cut in police funding.

However, John Campion, West Mercia's police and crime commissioner, denied that money had been cut.

He said one reason for the decline in charges being brought was the greater use of other methods to deal with crimes, such as the use of informal 'restorative justice' programmes.

Over the same period the area saw a 43 per cent increase in the number of crimes committed, reaching 86,782 by for the 12 months up until April. But Mr Campion says this was largely due to changes in the way crimes were recorded.

The neighbouring Dyfed-Powys force also saw a sharp decline in the charge rate, falling by 31 per cent over three years.

Just 11 per cent of crimes resulted in a charge or summons in 2018/19, compared to 16 per cent in 2015/16. The force saw a 30 per cent increase in crime over the same period, reaching 27,915 in the year up until April.

Councillor Overton said: "It is frankly pathetic that almost half of those offenders who would have been brought court now simply don’t get charged and therefore get away with offences.

"This lets communities and victims down. Communities tell me they hardly see a police officer on the beat these days."

He said Mr Campion had increased the council tax for police funding by 10 per cent, without any improvement.

But Mr Campion said: “It is wholly inaccurate to claim that funding is being cut, and this is not representative of the picture in West Mercia.

"I have invested in additional resources including more officers on our streets, and the budget for policing has increased in order to provide the best possible service to our communities."

Mr Campion added that West Mercia had seen the lowest increase in council tax for policing in the UK.

The Home Office said it had increased police funding by £1 billion, and last week new Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to recruit an extra 20,000 police officers by 2022.

Andy Cooke of the National Police Chiefs' Council said too few offences were being brought to court for justice to be done.

He added: “This is a symptom of the strain on policing as we try to manage growing crime and demand that is ever more complex.

Labour’s shadow policing and crime minister Louise Haigh said: “Such is the crisis created by Tory cuts, some crimes have been effectively decriminalised because the police simply do not have the resources to investigate them."

A Home Office spokesman said changes in charge rates are likely to be the result of improved crime recording by police, and forces taking on more complex cases, such as domestic abuse or sexual offences.