Just 3.5% of home burglaries result in a charge in England and Wales

EMBARGO: Immediate release

Analysis of official data by the Liberal Democrats has found that almost all burglaries go unpunished in England and Wales. The data has revealed that in the year up to March 2022 just 3.5% of domestic burglaries, and 4.2% of all burglaries resulted in a criminal charge in England and Wales. 

The official Home Office statistics show that an average of 774 burglaries have gone unsolved every day since 2017. This amounts to 1.4 million burglaries over the past five years. In 2021-22 the number of offences leading to a charge or summons was less than half that of 2017.

Just 3.5% of domestic burglaries resulted in a charge in the year up to March, with a fall from 25,454 charges and summonses in 2017-18 to just 11,271 in 2021-22. The worst levels of inaction were in Hampshire and West Mercia where only around 2 in 100 burglaries lead to a charge (with 98.3% uncharged).

The figures will also do little to reassure those who are concerned that low levels of prosecution mean criminals are becoming more brazen and violent. For instance there has been a steep rise in the number of aggravated burglaries (burglaries which involve a weapon), from 3525 in 2017 to nearly 4000 in 2021-22.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a strategy to urgently be drawn up to deliver more visible community policing so that criminals can no longer act with impunity.

Responding to the damning figures, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson, Alistair Carmichael MP said:

“Everyone should be able to feel safe in their own homes, and know that if someone does break in they will be caught and punished. But with the vast majority of burglaries going unsolved and charging rates pathetically low, that’s simply not the reality for people today.

“This Conservative Government is letting down victims and allowing criminals to get away with it. Having suffered the distress and trauma of being burgled, families are being left without the closure they need and the justice they deserve.

“At the very least, people should be able to expect that if they are burgled, the police will attend the scene and investigate properly. The Government must make that possible by giving police the officers, time and resources they need.

“Ministers should urgently draw up a strategy to tackle the shortage of detectives, and finally recruit the extra 20,000 police officers they promised but have failed to deliver. They should also set up a new national Online Crime Agency to better protect people from fraud and scams while freeing up local forces’ time to tackle burglars.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor

The data, which comes from the Home Office: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables, can be found here