Labour has accused the Tories of handing " shockingly short" prison sentences to 4,000 rapists, as the party continued to attack Rishi Sunak’s handling of sentencing.
Sir Keir Starmers’ party has vowed to crack down on rapists by giving criminals convicted of the offence a minimum sentence of seven years behind bars.
Labour published analysis showing 3,876 adult rapists have received a prison sentence of less than seven years since 2010.
The figures come as Labour ramps up its attacks on the Conservative government’s record on crime ahead of the local elections in May and a national poll next year.
On Friday Labour was widely condemned after releasing an attack ad claiming that the prime does not think child sex offenders should go to prison.
Figures on the left of the party joined Conservatives and others in expressing unease over the campaign ad but frontbencher Emily Thornberry defended it, saying Mr Sunak is “responsible for the justice system”.
Based on analysis of Ministry of Justice figures, Labour said its research also found that tens of thousands dangerous criminals including gunmen, kidnappers, child abductors and child sex offenders have been handed community or suspended sentences since 2010.
The analysis found that 10 rapists have dodged jail every year since the Conservatives came to power in 2010. Labour has pledged to make Britain’s streets safe by halving the level of violence against women and girls within a decade.
If it wins the general election, expected in the autumn of next year, Labour has also pledged to:
- Open specialist rape courts: listing rape cases as a priority and fast-tracking them – to bring down the three-year average wait. The party will use existing space at every crown court location in England and Wales to establish a specialist courtroom for dealing with rape trials.
- Double the number of prosecutors to put rapists behind bars: by lifting the restrictions on the 117 associate prosecutors employed by the Crown Prosecution Service, Labour would increase the 240 staff currently working as crown prosecutors by a half and set them all to work on tackling the record backlogs across Magistrates’ and Crown Courts.
- Put 13,000 extra neighbourhood police and police community support officers on streets.
Labour said England and Wales now face the longest trial delays on record with over 62,000 outstanding cases in the third quarter of 2022, with lawyers warning that the record courts backlog means many criminals are being given more lenient sentences.
The government has tried to blame the pandemic for the backlogs, but figures show that the courts backlog skyrocketed before 2020 with the closure of 245 crown and magistrate courts after 2010, Labour said.
High reoffending rates mean that prisons are often overcrowded, forcing senior judges to urge courts to spare convicted offenders from jail even if their crimes would usually warrant a custodial sentence.
Last month, the Court of Appeal quashed a six-month jail sentence imposed on a man who assaulted an emergency worker.
Steve Reed, the shadow justice secretary, said: “After 13 years under the Conservatives, women and girls do not feel safe.
“Rape has effectively been decriminalised, with barely one in every 100 reported rapes resulting in a charge.”
He added: “Now we find that those few rapists who are convicted may receive shockingly short jail terms, or might not end up at jailed at all.”
Crime will be a key concern for voters at next month’s local elections and the issue of rape featured heavily in the final two sessions of Prime Minister’s Question before the Easter break, with Sir Keir and Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, attacking the government on low conviction rates.
In a clash with Mr Sunak, Sir Keir accused the government of “sheer negligence” as he pressed the prime minister over the low rate of rape charges.
The Labour leader told MPs that “on his watch rape charges are 1.6 per cent”. Mr Sunak responded by saying that his government was “on track” to double the number of rape cases that reached court.
A week later Ms Rayner, standing in for the Labour leader, accused Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, of failing to tackle the issue.
She called on him to apologise to victims for the charge rate which she said had “collapsed” to 1.6 per cent under his watch. Mr Raab said tackling rape was one of the government’s “top priorities”.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Labour voted against tougher sentences for rapists. Keir has distinguished himself only by seeking to keep more foreign sex offenders in Britain by blocking deportation flights.”
