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<table><tbody><tr><td><p>The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 created the offence
of harassment and latterly, as amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, stalking.
The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 came into effect on 25 November 2012 and introduced
two new offences of stalking, by way of Section 2A and Section 4A, into the Protection
from Harassment Act 1997. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any data
which shows the number of defendants charged with and prosecuted for offences of stalking
or the number of these who were previously convicted of similar offences. However,
management information is held showing the number of offences of stalking in which
a prosecution commenced from each year from 2013/14. The table below shows the number
of these offences to the latest available year, 2021/22. <table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>2013-2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014-2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015-2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016-2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-2018</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2018-2019</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2019-2020</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2020-2021</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2021-2022</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Protection
from Harassment Act 1997 { 2A(1) and (4) }</p></td><td><p>529</p></td><td><p>676</p></td><td><p>643</p></td><td><p>510</p></td><td><p>921</p></td><td><p>1,246</p></td><td><p>1,257</p></td><td><p>1,326</p></td><td><p>1,741</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Protection
from Harassment Act 1997 { 4A(1)(a)(b)(i) and (5) }</p></td><td><p>65</p></td><td><p>133</p></td><td><p>128</p></td><td><p>83</p></td><td><p>172</p></td><td><p>313</p></td><td><p>331</p></td><td><p>424</p></td><td><p>563</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Protection
from Harassment Act 1997 { 4A(1)(a)(b)(ii) and (5) }</p></td><td><p>149</p></td><td><p>294</p></td><td><p>331</p></td><td><p>366</p></td><td><p>523</p></td><td><p>649</p></td><td><p>700</p></td><td><p>762</p></td><td><p>1,046</p></td></tr><tr><td
colspan="10"><p>Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System</p></td></tr></tbody></table>The
figures relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants.
It is often the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence
against the same complainant. No data are held showing the final outcome or if the
charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation. The official statistics
relating to crime and policing are maintained by the Home Office and the official
statistics relating to sentencing, criminal court proceedings, offenders brought to
justice, the courts and the judiciary are maintained by the Ministry of Justice.</p></td></tr></tbody></table>
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