HAMPSHIRE Constabulary's incorrect cancellation of sex offences is the worst in England and Wales — but the force argues it is getting better.

Recent analysis by the BBC Shared Data Unit shows in a sample of cancelled crimes by Hampshire Constabulary, which also covers the Isle of Wight, 53 per cent of sexual offences were incorrectly cancelled, the worst performance in all 43 police forces in England and Wales.

A cancelled crime is where a crime has been justifiably recorded but additional verifiable information — such as CCTV or a written victim statement — has come forward which determines no crime has actually taken place.

A report published by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire Rescue Services on police forces' crime data integrity, saw from the sample of cancelled crimes, its findings were 'disappointing' and rated Hampshire Constabulary as requires improvement.

Nine of 17 (53 per cent) sexual offences, two of 19 (11 per cent) violent offences and six of 18 (33 per cent) robberies crimes were found to have been incorrectly cancelled.

Hampshire Constabulary says in its defence, five of the sexual offence and one of the robberies were corrected prior to the inspection but didn't fit into the timeframe being looked at by investigators.

For rape cases, three of 19 cases (16 per cent) had been incorrectly cancelled and inspectors found this was due to a 'misinterpretation of true consent and intoxication'.

Inspectors also found during the process of cancelling the crime, instead of submitting it to the designated officer to determine the case, some officers were making the cancellation decision themselves.

They said: "The force needs to improve the accuracy of its crime cancellation decisions. And it should improve its systems to prevent unauthorised personnel from cancelling crime records."

Hampshire Constabulary’s force lead on crime data integrity, ACC Craig Dibdin, said progress has been made

He said: “It affirms our officers and staff are victim focused and we have the right leadership approach. The report also makes clear in the vast majority of cases we are recording crime, safeguarding victims and investigating crime in the right way.

"The accurate recording of crime can be influenced by many factors which may not be clear at the beginning of an investigation — the transfer of cases from one force to another, or a different crime to the one reported being identified following an initial investigation can impact on these figures and does not represent a recording failure.

“Additionally, it may become apparent a crime never actually happened. In these cases, police will use the verifiable information they have obtained to justify closing a case, and will never close a case if they are merely unclear as to whether a crime happened or not."

“In general, we do not contest the findings and accept that mistakes were made. Since the report in 2018, we have made a number of changes to how cancellations are managed.

Steps have been taken to address the problems noted by inspectors and since then Hampshire Constabulary say audits show compliance has improved in all target areas at an average of 97 per cent — in rape and robbery cancellations compliance was up to 100 per cent.