Quarter of crime victims withdraw support for prosecutions

A record number of crime victims refused to support prosecutions as they are losing confidence in the ability of the police to solve crimes. Home office figures showed that investigations into 25.3% of crimes were cancelled after the victims said they would not support the police- nearly treble the proportion in 2014-15. The disclosure follows warnings from HM Inspector of Police that the public has ‘rumbled’ that the chances of some high-volume crimes, like theft and criminal damage, being solved are ‘extremely limited’. Just 7.4% of crimes resulted in a charge or a summons, compared with 15.5% in 2014-15, according to the Home Office data.