Prosecutors continue to receive a record number of rape cases and pre-charge receipts between April and June 2026 – the seventh quarter in a row to each have the highest referral volumes recorded for that period. 

Performance data published today (October 22) shows 2,669 cases flagged with the rape monitoring flag were received by the Crown Prosecution Service in the first three months of 2026/7, up 8.2 per cent from the previous quarter and 16.5 per cent on the same period in 2025. The figure is the highest number of rape-flagged cases to be received by the CPS since records began in January to March in 2004.

Charge rates out of legal decisions on rape-flagged cases (how many cases referred to the CPS result in a charge) – for this period also reached the record level at 81.6 per cent.

All crime:

Overall prosecution volumes decreased 4.4 per cent to 119,611 cases on the previous quarter but were up 2.4 per cent compared to the year before. 

The three-month period was also the fourth consecutive quarter where the CPS received more than 3,000 cases of child abuse. 

Hate crime referrals were down 1.4 per cent to 4,280 but still show a trend of increased cases continuing. The number of hate crime cases which received an uplift – longer sentences – rose to the highest rate since recording began in 2015 and stands at 84 per cent. In hate crime cases, prosecutors can apply for a sentence uplift to reflect the additional seriousness of offending that is motivated by, or demonstrates, hostility towards a protected characteristic.