FOI 19801
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: HRC0019801/26
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 14th July 2026. Please find below the response to your request:
For the period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2025, please provide the following information, if held:
Does your force hold any recorded information relating to investigations involving victims under the age of 16 where a prosecution could not proceed because the statutory prosecution time limit had expired?
If yes, please provide:
The number of such investigations.
Of those investigations, how many involved summary-only offences.
Where recorded, the offence category (for example, common assault).
Reply
West Mercia Police have conducted searches in relation to your request.
Caveats:
Some crimes may not have an identified linked victim; some may have more than one. For the purposes of this request, included are all crimes which have at least one linked victim who is the under the age of 16.
Included in the table is the mode of trial for the recorded investigations (ie Summary Only, Either Way or Indictable) based upon what the matter has been recorded as. Crime recording standards and Charging Standards differ, where a victim provides an account which includes a number of offences committed with the same suspect, one crime is recorded with the most serious being used as the Primary Offence Title and other alleged crimes as an included classification. After investigation it is possible there is only sufficient evidence to present the included classifications to CPS who may advice that the statutory prosecution limit for has expired.
|
Trial Mode & Primary Full Offence Title of investigations which have a linked aged under 16 & which have been closed without Outcome 17 - Prosecution Time Limit Expired: Suspect Identified But Prosecution Time Limit Has Expired |
Calendar Year |
Grand Total |
|||||
|
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
||
|
Either Way |
19 |
29 |
13 |
17 |
17 |
12 |
107 |
|
Assault with Injury - Assault occasioning actual bodily harm |
16 |
23 |
11 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
80 |
|
Cruelty to Children/Young Persons - Cruelty to and neglect of children |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
|
Harassment - Putting people in fear of violence |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|||
|
Harassment - Stalking involving serious alarm/distress |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Non-fatal strangulation and suffocation |
2 |
1 |
3 |
||||
|
Other criminal damage, other (Under £5,000) |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Racially or religiously aggravated assault or assault occasioning actual bodily harm |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Racially or religiously aggravated common assault or beating |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Send indecent or grossly offensive communication to cause distress or anxiety Sec 1A Malicious Communications Act 1988 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Sexual assault on a male child under 13 |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Threaten with a blade or sharply pointed article in a public place |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Threats to kill |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Indictable |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Sexual activity with a female child under 16 by Penetration - Offender 18 or over |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Summary |
42 |
60 |
70 |
38 |
36 |
30 |
276 |
|
Assault without Injury - Common assault and battery |
42 |
58 |
64 |
36 |
30 |
23 |
253 |
|
Attempted - Assault without Injury - Common assault and battery |
1 |
1 |
|||||
|
Causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
|||
|
Harassment |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
14 |
|
|
Stalking - Pursue course of conduct in breach of Sec 1 (1) which amounts to stalking |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|||
|
Grand Total |
61 |
89 |
83 |
55 |
54 |
42 |
384 |