Thousands of criminal cases collapse due to botched evidence

Let down... victims are not getting the justice they expect because of police blunders

- By Michael Knowles Home Affairs Editor

THOUSANDS of crime victims have missed out on justice because of lost, damaged or missing evidence.

At least 70 murder and manslaughter cases and more than 550 sexual offence investigations failed due to such blunders in the last four years.

Over 30,000 prosecutions from October 2020 to September 2024 collapsed due to police evidence problems, the Crown Prosecution Service has revealed.

The number of such cases listed by the CPS as “E72” has risen 9% from 7,484 in 2020 to 8,180 last year.

The BBC Freedom of Information request has prompted a renewed crisis of confidence in England and Wales’s criminal justice system.

Devastating