Homophobic crime rises, reported rape not recorded as crime

Two troubling sets of crime figures have been released in recent weeks.

Firstly, recorded homophobic crime has risen dramatically across London, with Lewisham producing a 115% rise in the last year, from 32 cases in 2013 to 69 cases in 2014. The figures come courtesy of ITV News.

Secondly, the News Shopper reports that one-fifth of reported rapes in Lewisham borough were not recorded by the police as crimes as part of a city-wide pattern. The article says:

Figures given to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) by the CPS have shown police categorised a significant number of rape allegations across London as ‘crime-related incidents’ or ‘no crimes’ – this means they were not investigated unless new evidence emerged. A spokesman for the Met Police said: "We voluntarily referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission who took the decision to return it to the Met to be looked at locally."