Criminals avoid court if they apologise

Ministry off Justice data has revealed that nearly 140,000 individuals accused of offences, including sex crimes and possession of weapons, avoided prosecution because they apologised.

 

Likewise, they also avoided receiving a criminal record having accepted a Community Resolution. 

 

This approach to policing comes as a result of officers concerns that the courts are being bogged down by delays. 

 

At the year to June the number of resolutions stood at 138,900. This number equates to nearly 10% of all offences currently in the criminal justice system. It is a rise of 36% on the numbers revealed in 2018.

 

Those offenders handed community resolutions agreed to say sorry, face to face, to those they have wronged. They could also be ordered to pay compensation or carry out reparation.

 

The resolutions were intended for minor offences but MoJ data shows that they were used in 41,301 offences of violence against a person in the year to June. Resolutions in instances of burglaries accounted for 14,868.

 

And Community Resolutions were used in 644 sex crimes.

 

A senior legal source said: "There is a sense between police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that the delays from the tier of theft up to less serious but still violent crimes are taking a disproportionately long time. Vital witnesses may drop out. There is also the worry about whether it adds to the cost when police are in short supply and may need to concentrate on more serious crimes. The other ­consideration is the huge waste of police time and money if they turn up at court and then the case is postponed."

 

Furthermore, a senior police officer commented that court delays were "certainly a part" of opting for community resolutions. "We're aware of huge backlogs that started during Covid and have only got worse with industrial action and the shortage of court staff."

 

 

Collings Solicitors

Altrincham