Rape case specialist units falling short, review says

The care provided to rape and sexual assault victims by dedicated Crown Prosecution Service units in England and Wales is falling "well short" of what is expected, inspectors have said.

HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate says the 13 offices set up more than a year ago are insufficiently resourced and staffed.

Only 53 of 85 cases reviewed was dealt with by a specialist as recommended.

The CPS says most recommendations in the HMCPSI report were being addressed.

Minimum standards were drawn up after the director of public prosecutions announced in 2013 that specialist Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (Rasso) Units would be rolled out in every CPS area.

But HMCPSI found different models have been developed leading to inconsistency in case handling and limited compliance with minimum standards.

Inspectors said "more prescription around structure and resource was necessary at the outset".

It also said about half of the cases reviewed were not dealt with by a dedicated Rasso unit as they should be, and victims had faced staffing changes, with "continuity of prosecutor" in only 44 of 72 relevant cases.

Refresher training

The inspectors interviewed staff and examined cases handled by the CPS offices for the South East; Yorkshire and Humberside; North West; London; West Midlands, and Thames and Chiltern in 2014.

The cases included both those which resulted in convictions and acquittals and where a decision was made by prosecutors to take no further action.

Feedback from police, lawyers and the judiciary suggested it is difficult to achieve "quality casework" because the workloads being handled by Rasso units were exceeding their capacity, the report said.

It added: "It was felt that there is considerable pressure on the CPS to improve on success rates and to prosecute more cases, which may lead to some cases being pursued even though there is little chance of obtaining a conviction after a trial.

"Decisions on cases are rushed to achieve timeliness targets and then subsequently dropped when more thought is given to the detail of the case."

Chief inspector Kevin McGinty said: "While I acknowledge that considerable work has been undertaken by the CPS to prioritise improvement in rape prosecution outcomes, and that work continues, our inspection showed that the level of care being provided to victims in these sorts of cases is currently falling well short of what is expected."

Among the report's recommendations are that CPS headquarters provides detailed guidance of a national model to be adopted locally, and that all lawyers working at Rasso units undergo refresher training.

Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said an internal review had already identified many of the issues in the report and dedicated teams now handle all specialist rape and sexual offence cases.

She added: "The CPS saw the highest ever numbers of these cases last year, with the highest ever volumes of charges, prosecutions and convictions."