THOUSANDS of alleged offences have slipped through the net of the criminal justice system because police have been too late filing their reports to prosecutors.

 

Almost 4.000 charges were reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) outwith the statutory time frames over the last six years, leaving prosecutors with no choice but to scrap proceedings.

The figures, obtained under a Freedom of Information request, show that while the majority of charges relate to low level offences, crimes such as underage sex, electoral fraud, animal cruelty, drug dealing and firearms charges have also been dropped because they were not prosecuted within a six to 12-month period known as the time bar.

Experts within the legal profession have described the delays as "astonishing" and called for Police Scotland to take action to improve their reporting procedures.

Thomas Ross QC, president of the Scottish Criminal Bar Association, said: "It seems extraordinary that they would take so long to report. If it was an isolated incident then you could accept that mistakes happen, but we're talking thousands of cases here.

"How would a victim feel if they were to ask about their case only to be told by the Crown 'we can't do anything because the police were too late in reporting it'? It's astonishing."

The figures show a total of 3,850 charges were reported to the Crown outwith the time frames between 2008/09 and 2013/14.

A total of 763 were submitted in 2013/14, the first year of the single police force, which saw the highest number of time barred cases since 2008/09.

A total of 270,397 crimes were recorded that year, with late reports accounting for just under 0.3 per cent.

Mr Ross argued that the nature of many of the offences - such as drunk driving and minor motoring offences - mean they should be "relatively straight forward involving quite a simple report".

The advocate said changes need to be made at Police Scotland to prevent the delays, adding: "In any bureaucratic process people are going to make mistakes, but these figures suggest there's something much more serious going on."

The data shows that six underage sex charges were reported to COPFS too late within the six-year period, while there were seven firearms offences, 112 drug dealing charges and 10 animal welfare charges.

One offence involving false information being given to an electoral registration officer was also reported outwith the time frame in 2013/14.

Advocate Brian McConnachie QC, formerly a senior prosecutor with Crown Office, said that while the inability to prosecute does not matter in some very minor offences, delays in reporting certain charges, such as drug dealing, need to be explained.

He said the drink driving figure - 37 cases - also suggests "there may be a number of people out there driving who ought not to be".

The lawyer said: "It is difficult to understand why such offences become time-barred. There is very little investigation involved and usually little more than two police officers' evidence."

He claimed the issue is a "matter of concern", adding: "It might be that many of these offences would never have been prosecuted or would have been diverted in some way but the police failures meant that there was no choice."

Solicitor David McKie, of Levy & McRae Solicitors, added that the general strain on public bodies will no doubt have played a "significant part" in the delays.

Police Scotland say they aim to report offences within 28 days but are sometimes prevented from doing so due to evidential issues.

Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick said: "Police Scotland works hard to investigate and report to the Procurator Fiscal every instance of where a complaint of a criminal event may have taken place.

"In 2013/14, a total of 270,397 crimes were recorded yet only 763 charges were time-barred, which is less than 0.28 per cent.

"In a small number of cases, where we require assistance and information from a third party, despite our best efforts, this information is not received in time."

The Crown Office said it provides guidance to the police and other reporting agencies on their responsibility to report cases within the strict time limits.

A spokesman added that victims who ask about the progress of their case will be told the reason for any decision against taking proceedings.