FOI 21501-25 Sexual Assaults on People with Learning Difficulties

Request to Northamptonshire Police

1 The number of reports of rape, assault by penetration or sexual assault received between 1st September 2020 and 31st August 2025 in which the victim is identified as having a learning disability or autism. Could these numbers be broken down by offence please?

2 Of those total cases identified in part one, in how many was a suspect charged?

3 Of those total cases identified in part one, how many were closed for no further action?

I would like to request qualitative data in response to the following question.

4 Of the cases identified in part 3 above, what was the reason given for a no further action outcome? (e.g. evidential difficulties, victim withdrew etc)

Response

Northamptonshire Police has conducted searches against its crime recording system and identified 2068 incidents of rape, assault by penetration or sexual assault within your specified period. We do record if a person has a disability, however, this is not broken down info ‘Learning difficulty’ or ‘Autism’ specifically.

This means our analysts would need to manually review all 2068 incidents to ascertain if they matched the criteria of your request. Even at a very conservative one minute per record, compliance would exceed the appropriate cost limit of £450, which engages an exemption under s12(1) Freedom of Information Act (the Act).

Accordingly, please accept this as a Refusal Notice under s17(1) of the Act.

We always strive to provide the highest level of service that we can with the finite resources at our disposal. Therefore, per our Duty to offer advice and assistance to help you revise your request as outlined in s16 of the Act, we may be able to provide you with data for a maximum period of two years (subject to further exemptions). If you feel this would be useful, please submit a new request.