Shocking number of child cruelty offences in Lancashire

Lancashire Constabulary recorded hundreds of cases during pandemic
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Hundreds of child cruelty offences were recorded by Lancashire Constabulary during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

The smiling face of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, who was tortured by his father and stepmother before they killed him in June 2020, will forever be a reminder of the devastation child abuse can wreak upon innocent lives.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But tragically, the six-year-old boy is just one of thousands of children in the UK to have been abused during the pandemic.

Lancashire Constabulary record hundreds of child cruelty offences during pandemicLancashire Constabulary record hundreds of child cruelty offences during pandemic
Lancashire Constabulary record hundreds of child cruelty offences during pandemic

Home Office data shows Lancashire Constabulary logged 351 crimes of child cruelty in 2020-21 – up from 247 the year before.

The number of offences logged during that time was around three times higher than the 120 recorded in 2012-13, when records began.

Across England and Wales, child cruelty offences leapt by 12 per cent to a record 25,000 last year, despite authorities struggling to identify some of those at risk amid national lockdowns and school closures.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Nationally, offences have almost quadrupled since 2012-13, with forces recording more than 130,000 crimes in less than a decade.

Of those, 1,606 were logged by Lancashire Constabulary.

The Government said the dramatic national increase in offences is likely to have been driven by improvements in recording, rather than in instances of child cruelty.

However, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and children’s charity the NSPCC believe there is more to be done to protect children.

Pierre Hyman, senior policy officer at the NSPCC, called for Government investment to strengthen safeguarding and ensure authorities work together to tackle the issue.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He added: “To see year after year the number of child cruelty offences rise so dramatically is concerning, particularly following the tragic case of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes.

“We have similarly seen a rise in calls to our helpline around child abuse and neglect.

“We need political leadership on ensuring child abuse victims are supported in the criminal justice system.”

Separate figures show the majority of the 305 child cruelty cases closed by Lancashire Constabulary last year were never brought before the criminal courts – just 44 (14 per cent) resulted in a charge or summons being issued, though some matters may have been addressed in the family courts.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The force transferred 40 cases (13 per cent) to other authorities for further investigation.

Just 1,000 out of more than 24,000 cases closed by police forces nationally last year ended with a charge or summons, the figures show.

And recent Department for Education figures show two-thirds of children looked after by councils across England are in care due to abuse.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council’s lead for child protection, deputy chief constable Ian Critchley, said police worked closely with other authorities to tackle child cruelty but said there were “complex challenges” to overcome.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He added: “We encourage anyone who believes a child is being abused to report their concerns, no matter how small they seem.”

A Government spokeswoman said the police were expected to use all powers available to them to investigate and record child abuse.

She said a national review was underway and a targeted inspection was launched following the murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes.

Last year, the Government provided £11m to the See, Hear, Respond programme, which aimed to support vulnerable young people during the pandemic. It also made £1.8m available to the NSPCC to expand and promote its helpline.