You asked
Please make available the following information in relation to 'gang stalking' throughout the internet:
number of incidents of stalking reported by victims
number of offenders involved; were offenders working together?
offenders relation to victim e.g. ex-spouse, neighbours, strangers etc.
Could you please provide all of the statistics for the previous year.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
In answering your query we shall draw on the following sources, the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime. The CSEW is a face-to-face victimisation survey in which people resident in households in England and Wales are asked about their experiences of a range of crimes in the 12 months prior to the interview, whereas police recorded crime refers to data recorded by the police of offences that have come to their attention.
Stalking offences recorded by the police are published on a quarterly basis, and can be found in Appendix table A4. The latest statistics show that there were 7,182 incidents of stalking recorded by the police in the year ending September 2017. However, it is important to note that in the latest joint inspection conducted by HMICFRS and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI), it was found that stalking was not always recorded accurately by the police and in some of these cases, stalking was recorded as harassment. These findings suggest we cannot be confident whether or not the recording method accurately reflects stalking.
Our ‘Focus on violence: year ending March 2016’ publication provides an estimate of the number of victims who experienced stalking once or more in the last year, which was estimated at 1.2 million people for the ending March 2016. However, the survey cannot provide an estimate of the number of times a victim experiences stalking and hence the number of incidents.
The accompanying Appendix Tables (4.01-4.12) provide a further breakdown of stalking data, and include information on the relationship of the offender to the victim, broken down by partner/ex-partner or family member. The survey does not ask questions in relation to stalking regarding any other offender relationship, the number of offenders involved or if offenders were working together.
Updated figures for the year ending March 2017 are due to be published on 8 February 2018.
Statistics regarding offenders of crime are collected by the Ministry of Justice, they may be able to provide further assistance. They can be contacted at the following email address: statistics.enquiries@justice.gsi.gov.uk.
We regret that we are unable to assist you further. If you would like any further information, you can email us at CrimeStatistics@ons.gov.uk and we will endeavour to help.