April 28, 2025 | Incident and Crime Statistics , Sexual Offences
Request Number: FOI14323
Category: Incident and Crime Statistics - Sexual Offences
Subject: Crime statistics
Request and Answer:
Your request for information below has now been considered. In respect of Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) We can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) does hold the information you have requested however it is estimated that the cost of complying with your request for information would exceed the “appropriate costs limit” under Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We have explained to you below that when PSNI estimates whether the appropriate limit is likely to be exceeded, it can include the costs of complying with two or more requests if certain conditions are met. In this case those conditions are met and complying with all of your requests would in our estimation exceed that appropriate limit set out in Regulation. We have explained this further below but also we followed the Information Commissioner’s Office guidance ‘Requests where the cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit’ in relation to this request, which also provides further detail on the application of Section 12 (1) of the FOIA. This guidance is available on the ICO website at the following link:
Request 1
I am writing to submit a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for information held by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) regarding reported sexual assaults, sexual offences, and related incidents involving suspected drink spiking or the use of date rape drugs for the period from 1st January 1995 to 31st December 1996. Specifically, I am requesting the following details of Reported Sexual Assaults and Sexual Offences. Please provide the total number of sexual assault and sexual offence cases reported to the PSNI (or its predecessor, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, if applicable) between 1st January 1995 and 31st December 1996?
Request 2
A breakdown of these incidents listed by calendar date (e.g., 1st January 1995, 2nd January 1995, etc.), including
Request 3
The date of the reported incident?
Request 4
The specific location of each reported incident (e.g., town, city, or area, as precise as possible without breaching privacy obligations)?
Request 5
The nature of the offence (e.g., sexual assault, rape, or other relevant categories as recorded at the time)?
Request 6
The outcome of each case (e.g., no further action, referred to prosecution, conviction, acquittal, or other resolution)?
Request 7
Details of Suspected Drink Spiking and Date Rape Drugs?
Request 8 For the same period (1st January 1995 to 31st December 1996), details of any reported incidents involving suspected drink spiking or the use of date rape drugs (e.g., Rohypnol, GHB, or other substances identified at the time), whether linked to sexual offences or reported separately?
Request 9
A breakdown of these incidents listed by calendar date, including
Request 10
The date of the reported incident?
Request 11
The specific location of each reported incident?
Request 12
Whether the incident was associated with a sexual offence or another crime?
Request 13
Any recorded evidence or suspicion of specific substances used (e.g., from victim statements, witness accounts, or forensic analysis).
Request 14
The outcome of each case?
Request 15
Publicly Available Media for Convictions?
Request 16
For cases that resulted in convictions (related to either sexual offences or drink spiking/date rape drug incidents), please provide links to or references for any publicly available media reports (e.g., news articles, press releases, or court summaries) that detail those convictions. If specific links are unavailable, please indicate where such information might be accessed (e.g., archives of local newspapers or public court records).
Answer
Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Police Service of Northern Ireland, when refusing to provide such information (because the cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit) to provide you the applicant with a notice which states that fact.
It is estimated that the cost of complying with your request for information would exceed the “appropriate costs limit” under Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 12 of FOIA allows a public authority to refuse to deal with a request where it estimates that it would exceed the appropriate limit to either comply with the request in its entirety or confirm or deny whether the requested information is held. The estimate must be reasonable in the circumstances of the case. The ‘appropriate limit’ is currently £600 for central government and £450 for all other public authorities including PSNI. The relevant Regulations which define the appropriate limit for section 12 purposes are The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulation 2004 SI 2004 No 3244. These are known as the ‘Fees Regulations’ for brevity.
Regulation 4(3) of the Fees Regulations states that a public authority can take into account the costs it reasonably expects to incur in carrying out the following permitted activities in complying with the request:
(i) determining whether the information is held;
(ii) locating the information, or a document containing it;
(iii) retrieving the information, or a document containing it; and
(iv) extracting the information from a document containing it.
Under those regulations PSNI can calculate the time spent on each of these permitted activities at £25 per hour (thus if the activity(s) takes more than 18 hours PSNI will be in excess of the ‘appropriate limit’).
When a public authority is estimating whether the appropriate limit is likely to be exceeded, it can include the costs of complying with two or more requests if the conditions laid out in Regulation 5 of the Fees Regulations can be satisfied. Those conditions require the requests to be:
- made by one person, or by different persons who appear to the public authority to be acting in concert or in pursuance of a campaign;
- made for the same or similar information; and
- received by the public authority within any period of 60 consecutive working days.
Regulation 5(2) of the Fees Regulations requires that the requests which are to be aggregated relate “to any extent” to the same or similar information. This is quite a wide test but public authorities should still ensure that the requests meet this requirement.
PSNI can advise that according to the annual Report of the Chief Constable, there were around 3,500 recorded sexual offences in 1995 and 1996. Records for 1995-96 are paper based and held in storage. It is estimated that to determine the information you seek would require a manual review of each relevant record. At approximately 30 minutes per record this would take approximately 1,750 hours thus putting this request grossly over cost
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter should be considered as a Refusal Notice, and the request has therefore been closed.
Advice and Assistance
You may wish to submit a refined request in order that the cost of complying with your request may be facilitated within the ‘appropriate limit’. In compliance with Section 16 of the Act, we have considered how your request may be refined to bring it under the appropriate limit but we are unable to provide a refinement.
Submission of a refined request would be treated as a new request, and considered in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, including consideration of relevant Part II exemptions.