Most stalking convictions in Northern Ireland taking less than a year
Reading time: 2 minutes
Naomi Long
More than 90 per cent of stalking convictions in Northern Ireland were achieved less than a year after the defendants were reported to police, according to new figures.
Stalking became a standalone offence under the Protection from Stalking Act (NI) 2022, which came into force in April 2022.
A report published in September revealed there had been 57 convictions in the first two years of the Act’s operation and a total of 449 files sent by the PSNI to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
An addendum to that report has now been published, which sets out additional information on processing times for 62 conviction cases of stalking and threatening or abusive behaviour.
Cases took a median of 183 days to be processed, with 80 per cent of cases completed in 287 days and 90 per cent completed within 365 days.
Justice minister Naomi Long said: “The Department of Justice, through the Stalking Implementation Working Group, looked at how we could expand the information we are able to release.
“I am pleased we are now in position to provide data on the average length of time from when an offence is reported to court disposal.
“We will continue to work with members of the Implementation Group to assess how the first report, and future reports, can be expanded upon in line with the requirement in the Act to publish information which is available to the Department.”
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss articles like this one:
SUBSCRIBE
