Record number of rape trials collapse as victims and witnesses walk away

Rape victims and witnesses abandoned five times more cases last year than they did before the pandemic, causing trials to collapse at record rates, analysis shows.

- John Simpson

The "witness attrition" rate of people quitting proceedings caused 325 prosecutions out of 4,317 to collapse last year, compared with 62 in 2019.

Victims facing waits of up to four years for a court date have been abandoning prosecutions at record levels.

Crown courts have begun listing trials for as late as 2029, with charities warning that victims are increasingly likely to walk away from their cases.

The number of rape prosecutions has almost doubled from 2,183 in 2019 to 4,317 in 2024, but the rise in witness attrition far outstrips this. The government is showing no sign of delivering on its election promise to create specialist rape and sexual assault courts to clear the case backlog.