'Inexcusably poor' records omit 1 in 5 UK crimes, says watchdog

One in five crimes went unrecorded last year, according to an official report that described UK police records as "inexcusably poor".

For sexual offences and rape, the situation was even worse with 26 per cent of crimes going unreported, the study by police watchdog Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary found. It said that more than a fifth of rape records were removed or cancelled last year for "no good reason".

Tom Winsor, the chief inspector of constabulary, described the figures as "inexcusable" and said it "would be deplorable" if they were not improved.

"The rate on sexual offences and violent crime is a matter of especially serious concern," he added.

The report follows repeated accusations that police forces have been "massaging" crime figures. In 2013 police constable James Patrick told the Commons public administration committee that manipulating statistics was "an ingrained part of policing culture".

Despite the introduction of a national crime recording standard in 2002, "there remains appreciable concern that real crime levels are not truly represented in the statistics, particularly those recorded by police forces", the report found.

A majority of the mis-recordings were attributable to lapses in leadership and supervision, though about a fifth of respondents to an anonymous survey by the inspectorate said they had experienced pressure not to record a crime at some point in the past six months.

The report will heighten doubts about the accuracy of official figures that have shown crime falling to its lowest level since the Office for National Statistics began collecting data in 1981. It is thought that the discrepancy between recorded and actual crime has grown since independent checks by the Audit Commission were stopped in 2007.

Theresa May, the home secretary, said: "We are beginning to see the benefits of HMIC's scrutiny. There have been positive signs that recording is improving and that more victims of crimes, such as sexual offences, are coming forward."

The inspectorate has made recommendations to improve the accuracy of the figures, although it is unclear which will be implemented.

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