Thousands of criminal cases collapsing due to missing or lost police evidence
Summary
Thousands of criminal cases in England and Wales have fallen apart because police evidence was lost, damaged, or missing. Between 2020 and 2024, more than 30,000 prosecutions, including serious crimes, did not go to trial because necessary evidence wasn't available.Key Facts
- More than 30,000 prosecutions collapsed between October 2020 and September 2024 due to missing evidence.
- The cases include 70 homicides and over 550 sexual offences.
- Recordings can become unusable when evidence, like forensic or digital data, is lost or damaged.
- Police chiefs mention that not every case is due to lost evidence; it may also be a lack of experts or missing medical statements.
- The National Forensics Archive holds millions of pieces of evidence before 2012.
- An increase in these issues is linked to police budget cuts during the 2010s.
- The term "E72" is used when cases can't go forward due to missing evidence.
- In 2020, 7,484 cases referred to as E72 were reported, growing by 9% to 8,180 in 2024.
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