FOI Non-Fatal Strangulation (112-2024/25)

Request

I am writing to request data under the FOI Act. Specifically, I would like to know how many offences have been recorded under the new non-fatal strangulation offence (s75A Serious Crime Act 2015 (as amended by Domestic Abuse Act 2021),  since it was introduced in June 2022. Please provide the following information:

Q1. How many crimes of non-fatal strangulation (s75A Serious Crime Act 2015) have you recorded between 7 June 2022 and the most recent date for which data is available?
Q2. Please provide a breakdown of victims and offenders/suspects for non-live by:
a. Sex/gender (how many female victims, how many male victims, how many unknown and same for offenders/suspects)
b. Age group for victims and suspects (16-24, 25-39, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85-89, 90+)
c. Ethnicity of victims and suspects (using usual HO categories or whatever you use to organise ethnicity)
d. Relationship between victim and suspects (spouse/partner, acquaintance, friend, neighbour, other family member, stranger, relationship not known).
Q3. Breakdown of case outcomes: for non-live cases, how many arrests, charges, prosecutions and convictions. 

If it is feasible to do so, please distinguish between data for crimes recorded as non-fatal strangulation (defined in s75A Serious Crime Act 2015, as amended by Domestic Abuse Act 2021) and crimes recorded as non-fatal suffocation (defined in s75B Serious Crime Act, as amended by Domestic Abuse Act 2021.)

Finally, if providing this data from June 2022 to the present will trigger the cost of compliance exemption, please provide it for whatever amount of time is feasible.

Response

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.

I note that non-fatal strangulation and non-fatal suffocation crimes are recorded under the same crime category, therefore it is not possible to separate the crimes within the time allowed under the act.

Q1. From 07 June 2022 to 06 May 2024 North Yorkshire Police reorded 500 non-fatal strangulation crimes.

Q2a. Please see the table below which details the gender breakdown of the victims and offenders of the non-fatal strangulation crimes.

 

Gender	Victim	Offender
Female	422	117
Male	72	6
Not Recorded	7	1
Total	501	124

Q2b. Please see the table below which details the age breakdown of the victims and offenders of the non-fatal strangulation crimes.

Age Group	Victim	Offender
Under 16	37	<5
16 - 24	121	11
25 - 29	77	17
30 - 34	69	25
35 - 39	64	19
40 - 44	42	19
45 - 49	37	13
50 - 54	18	12
55 - 59	18	<5
60 - 64	5	<5
65 - 69	5	-
70 - 74	4	<5
75 +	3	-
Not Recorded	1	-
Total	501	124

Q2c. Please see the table below which details the ethnicity breakdown of the victims and offenders of the non-fatal strangulation crimes. I have exempted some of the individual figures pursuant to Section 40(2) – Personal Information of the act. Please see the full exemption explanation below.

Ethnicity	Victim	Offender
A1. Indian	-	<5
A4. Chinese	<5	<5
B1. Black Caribbean inc Black British	-	<5
B2. Black African inc Black British	<5	<5
B9. Any other Black background	-	<5
M1. White and Black Caribbean	<5	-
M3. White and Asian	<5	-
M9. Any other mixed	<5	-
NS. Not stated	93	13
O9. Any other	<5	-
W1. British	186	94
W1. White British	33	9
W2. Irish	<5	-
W3. White Gypsy or Irish Traveller	<5	-
W9. Any other white background	7	-
Not Recorded	172	<5
Total	501	124

Q2d. Please see the table below which details the offender / victim relationship breakdown of the of the non-fatal strangulation crimes. I have exempted some of the individual figures pursuant to Section 40(2) – Personal Information of the act. Please see the full exemption explanation below.

Offender/Victim Relationship	Total
Acquaintance	41
Brother (incl. step/half/adopted)	12
Daughter (incl. step/half/adopted)	<5
Ex-partner: Heterosexual	29
Ex-partner: Non-heterosexual	<5
Ex-partner: Not known	75
Grandparent (incl. step/adopted)	<5
Not known/No current suspect	<5
Not Recorded	<5
Other relative	<5
Other sexual relationship	<5
Parent (incl. step/adopted)	32
Partner: Heterosexual	76
Partner: Non-heterosexual	<5
Partner: Not known	185
Sister (incl. step/half/adopted)	<5
Son (incl. step/half/adopted)	17
Stranger	16
Victimless/crime against state	<5
Total	500

Q3. Please see the table below which details the outcome breakdown of the of the non-fatal strangulation crimes. I have exempted some of the individual figures pursuant to Section 40(2) – Personal Information of the act. Please see the full exemption explanation below.

Outcome	Total
01-Charged/Summonsed	86
03-Caution – adults	12
08-Community Resolution	<5
09-Not in public interest (CPS)	<5
10-Not in public interest (Police)	<5
11-Prosecution prevented – suspect under age	<5
12-Prosecution prevented – suspect ill	<5
14-Evidential difficulties victim based – suspect not identified	8
15-Evidential difficulties prevent further action; victim supports police action	57
16-Evidential difficulties prevent further action; victim does not support police action	240
18-Investigation complete - no suspect identified	<5
20-Action by other agency	8
21-No Investigation - Not in public interest (Police)	<5
22-Diversionary or referral pathway; no public interest	6
Still Under Investigation/Awaiting Outcome Applied	67
Total	500

Exemption Explanation

Section 40 – Personal Information

I am exempting the specific details of some of the ethnicities of these individuals pursuant to Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). This is to ensure anonymity for those involved in each case.

Where an individual can be identified by such data, releasing it would clearly breach the first data protection principle of being ‘fair’ to the data subject.

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

Section 40(2) is an absolute class based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle; in that processing of personal data must be lawful and fair (DPA 2018 35(1), EUGDPR Article 5(1)).

This exemption applies because the right given under the FOI Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.

In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 2018 & EU General Data Protection Regulations, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure.  In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned. 

Releasing personal details to a person other than the data subject would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to your request.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.