Just 1.6 per cent of reported coercive control offences in Avon and Somerset end in conviction, new figures show.

Since the offence was introduced under the Serious Crime Act 2015, Avon and Somerset Police have charged 449 people. Of those, 145 were convicted in Magistrates' Courts.

The force recorded 67 charges in the first half of 2025, following a peak of 140 in 2024. In 2016, the first full year of the offence, just seven people were charged.

Estimates suggest that between 8,000 and 9,000 coercive control offences have been reported to Avon and Somerset Police over the past nine years, placing the force's charge rate at around 5 per cent. Its conviction rate for those charged stands at 32 per cent.

Nationally, police recorded 43,774 coercive control offences in the year to March 2023. Around 6 per cent of those resulted in a charge. Government data shows that conviction rates for those charged sit between 52 and 60 per cent.

A spokesperson for Refuge said: "Many victims of coercive control are transformed into offenders by the system. With such a tiny proportion of cases reaching successful convictions, it is shocking that survivors are made to bear the burden of incomplete justice."

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: "Controlling and coercive behaviour is insidious and deeply damaging. We are committed to protecting victims and bringing perpetrators to justice."

From February 2025, offenders sentenced to 12 months or more for coercive control are now managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), alongside violent domestic abusers.

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