Strangulation offences

Request: FOI/00013592

Category: Incident and Crime Statistics - Serious and Organised Crime

Subject: Strangulation offences

Request

I am writing to request the following under the Freedom of Information Act. 

Specifically, I would like to know how many offences have been recorded under the non-fatal strangulation offence (s75A Serious Crime Act 2015 (as amended by Domestic Abuse Act 2021), since it was introduced in June 2022. Please could you tell me the following: 

Request 1

How many crimes of non-fatal strangulation (s75A Serious Crime Act 2015) have you recorded between 7 June 2022 and 31 Dec 2024, broken down by year? Please include all occurrences, including where this is not the primary offence.

Request 2

Please also provide a count of all other offences associated with the investigations from Q1, i.e. other secondary or primary offences that were recorded at the same time, for example if it was recorded alongside a sexual offence. Please list full offence titles and total count these of linked offences over the time period.

Request 3

For all of the investigations in Q1, please extract and send the redacted crime MO.

Request 4

Please provide a separate breakdown of total victims and suspects count by:

a) age group (categories: Aged 15 years and under · Aged 16 to 24 years · Aged 25 to 34 years · Aged 35 to 49 years · Aged 50 to 64 years · Aged 65 years and over) and

b) gender, linked to investigations from Q1

Request 5

Please provide a separate breakdown of case outcomes: for non-live cases, by outcome type and total count, for investigations from Q1.

Request 6

Please provide a separate breakdown of the total number of arrests where non-fatal strangulation is part of the of the arrest offences.

Answer 1-6

Your request for information has now been considered. In respect of Section 1(1)(a) of the Act we can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) does not hold information in relation to your requests. 

The Serious Crime Act 2015 (as amended by Domestic Abuse Act 2021) does not apply to Northern Ireland, therefore enquiries made by the PSNI in relation to your request failed to locate any records or documents relevant to your request based on the information you have provided. 

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 amended the Serious Crime Act 2015, introducing two new sections — section 75A and 75B— created a new and specific criminal offence of non-fatal strangulation and suffocation. The offence applies to any case where a person intentionally strangles or suffocates another person, including in cases of domestic abuse. The offence also applies where strangulation or suffocation is committed abroad by a British national or by a person who is habitually resident in England or Wales, as if the offence had happened in England and Wales.

Accordingly, we have determined that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does not hold the information to which you seek access.

Advice and Assistance

In Northern Ireland, the offence of non-fatal strangulation was introduced on 26th June 2023 through the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. 

Relevant Record Owner within the PSNI has advised that we would be in a position to provide within the statutory time frame, information below in regards to Section 28 of the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 – for an offence of non-fatal strangulation or asphyxiation:

• The number of the above offences from 26th June 2023 to 31st December 2024, broken down by age and gender of victims and assigned outcome.
• Also the number of arrests for non-fatal strangulation crimes included in the police recorded crime data series.

If you would like to request the above information please submit a fresh FOI request. However, it should be noted that, where non-fatal strangulation is not the primary offence, it will not be recorded on the PSNI systems as per guidance in the Home Office Counting Rules that states: ‘’for crime recording purposes, only the most serious offence against the victim should be recorded’’. 

This may not provide a complete picture of investigations including non-fatal strangulation conducted by the PSNI.

Details of other offences associated with those listed above and their Modus Operandi, would require a manual trawl of all cases and would highly likely bring new requests to overcost.