PPS received more than 1,500 sexual offence files in past year in Northern Ireland

Six hundred of these involved an offence of rape.

The PPS published its statistical bulletin of cases on Thursday (December 1), which revealed an increase in prosecution and conviction rates for sexual offences.

Ciaran McQuillan, head of the PPS Serious Crime Unit, described the findings as “signs of gradual improvements” but added that there was “much work still to be done”.

The PPS Statistical Bulletin: Cases Involving Sexual Offences 2021/22, showed that in the past financial year:

• The PPS received a total of 1,509 files involving a sexual offence. This was a decrease of 3.8 per cent on 2020/21 (1,568).
• There was an increase of 3.8 per cent in the number of files received involving an offence of rape, from 578 to 600.
• Files received included a total of 1,573 suspects, 622 of whom were charged or reported for rape (an increase of 2.3 per cent on 2020/21) and 951 were in respect of other sexual offences (a decrease of 9.9 per cent).
• 1,540 prosecutorial decisions were issued by the PPS in respect of suspects in cases involving sexual offences. The Test for Prosecution was met in respect of 35.5 per cent of decisions, which included 546 decisions for prosecution or diversion from the courts. At 35.5 per cent, the percentage of decisions meeting the ‘test’ represents an increase from 2020/21 (27.8 per cent).
• Of the 994 no prosecution decisions issued during 2021/22, the vast majority (98.3 per cent) did not pass the evidential test. The remaining 1.7 per cent did not pass the public interest test.
• A total of 256 defendants were dealt with in the Crown Court in cases involving sexual offences. The overall conviction rate was 72.7 per cent compared with 71.3 per cent in 2020/21. In addition, 67.6 per cent were convicted of at least one sexual offence.
• Seventy-two defendants were dealt with in the Crown Court for an offence of rape and 47 (65.3 per cent) of these were convicted of at least one offence.
• Twenty-one defendants (29.2 per cent) were convicted of an offence of rape. Twenty-six individuals were convicted of at least one sexual offence not including rape.
• A total of 190 defendants were dealt with in the magistrates’ and youth courts for a sexual offence during 2021/22. The overall conviction rate was 73.2 per cent compared with 68 per cent in 2020/21.

Mr McQuillan, said: “Sexual offences are abhorrent crimes that have a lasting impact on victims and their families, and cause significant harm in wider society.

“These offences also present complex and deep-seated challenges for the entire criminal justice system. Every part of the criminal justice system, along with wider society, carries a responsibility to tackle these challenges. The PPS publishes this bulletin every year in order to contribute to wider conversations surrounding sexual offences.”

Mr McQuillan highlighted the broad findings of the report, which show, in 2021/22, an increase in the prosecution rates for all sexual offences of eight percentage points from the previous year (from 23.6 per cent to 31.6 per cent).

For offences of rape the increase in the prosecution rate was 5.9 percentage points (17.3 per cent of cases as compared to 11.4 per cent in 2020/21). The number of suspects prosecuted for rape increased from 76 to 103 and for all sexual offences the numbers went also up from 416 in 2020/21 to 486 in 2021/22.

He said there was also a slight increase in conviction rates for all sexual offences at both Crown Court and magistrates’ court level in the past year.

Mr McQuillan added: “While we recognise that there is much work still to be done across the system – particularly in respect of delay despite the improvements this year in the time taken to issue decisions – we are encouraged to see signs of gradual and sustained improvements in this bulletin.

“There needs to be a continual focus by the whole criminal justice system and wider society to tackle sexual abuse and violence in all its forms.

“While anyone – regardless of characteristics including age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity or disability – can be the victim of a sexual offence, we know that women and girls are disproportionately affected.

“We are feeding into the wider work in this area, including the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Tacking Violence Against Women and Girls Action Plan and the Executive Office’s Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategy.

“Our own updated PPS Sexual Offences Policy is at an advanced stage of development and we expect to launch this in the early part of 2023. It is intended to give a better understanding of the prosecution and trial processes. It also covers issues including consent, sexual offences myths and the support for victims and witnesses.

Mr McQuillan said it was important that “every victim of a sexual offence feels confident to speak out”.

“In the PPS we understand that many victims of sexual offences may feel worried about reporting their experiences and going through the criminal justice system,” he said. “We want to assure them that the team of specialist prosecutors in the PPS Serious Crime Unit are highly trained and experienced in dealing with these cases.

“They approach the decision making needed with sensitivity, fairness and care. We work with police to ensure that victims are listened to and always treated with respect.

“We remain committed to working collaboratively with all our partners to improve how these cases are dealt with in the criminal justice system including implementing recommendations from the Gillen Review into Sexual Offences.

“We also work with victim representative groups to help ensure that victims’ needs and views are reflected during the prosecution and court process.”