Official Statistics

Murder, manslaughter and sexual offences in the Service Justice System: 2023

Published 28 March 2024

This annual publication provides statistics on recent and non-recent criminal conduct offences, contrary to s.42 Armed Forces Act 2006, allegedly committed by Persons Subject to Service Law and Civilians Subject to Service Discipline, where the corresponding offence under the Law of England and Wales is an offence contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (SOA 03) or a non-recent sexual offence. From 31 March 2022, this publication included statistics on criminal conduct offences alleging murder and manslaughter. From 31 March 2023, this publication includes statistics on criminal conduct offences involving domestic abuse.

A non-recent sexual offence is an offence that is alleged to have occurred prior to the implementation of the 2003 Sexual Offences Act and is reported within this reporting year. These were previously referred to as “historic”.

Cases included in these statistics were either reported to the Service Police, referred to the Director of Service Prosecutions (DSP) or resulted in Court Martial proceedings concluded between 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023. Comparisons have been made to figures from 2021 and 2022 with the exception of murder and manslaughter as this is the second year for which these offences are included in the publication. 2022 is the first year where domestic abuse has been counted.

The latest Armed Forces strength figures for each Service should be taken into consideration when making comparisons as there are more personnel in the Army compared to the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines or the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Key Points and Trends for Sexual Offences

During 2023 the Service Police initiated a total of 284 investigations into sexual offences contrary to the SOA 03 and non-recent offences; 272 were into offences contrary to the SOA 03 and 12 were investigations into non-recent offences. This represents a total decrease of 58 investigations contrary to the SOA 03 for 2023 compared to 2022 and an increase of three non-recent investigation from 2022. Of those 284 investigations, 102 personnel were still under investigation at the end of 2023 and 184 were concluded. Of the concluded investigations 89 (48 %) were referred to the DSP by the service police and 95 (52 %) did not lead to a referral. This represents a decrease of 68 cases that resulted in a referral of charges, an increase of 11 cases that were not referred and a decrease of eight cases still under investigation compared to the 2022 figures. The 272 investigations into SOA 03 offences involved 276 suspects (243 male, 8 female and 25 unidentified suspects or suspects with an unknown gender) and 294 victims (49 male and 245 female).

During 2023, the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) received 159 case referrals, regarding sexual offences, from the Service Police. Of the 159 case referrals received, 33 were still under consideration and 126 were concluded at the time the statistics were produced. Of those concluded, the SPA brought charges contrary to the SOA 03 and non-recent sexual offences in 44 (35 %) cases, 63 (50 %) cases were non-directed, nine (7 %) were referred to the CO and in 10 (8 %) cases an alternative offence charge was preferred. The SPA figures for 2023 contain cases which are still in the process of being investigated and therefore no decision has yet been made as to whether charges will be brought in these cases. The figures shown in Table 5 do not show all the decisions made by the SPA within 2023 as some of the decisions were made in respect of cases that were referred before 2023.

Between 01 January 2023 and 31 December 2023, 98 defendants appeared before the Court Martial for sexual offences, indecent images of children offences and Domestic Abuse related offences. Of those 98 defendants, 39 (40 %) were convicted of those offences. 98 defendants faced 156 charges for sexual offences, indecent images of children offences and Domestic Abuse related offences. Of these 156 charges, 65 (42 %) resulted in guilty verdicts and 90 (58 %) resulted in not guilty verdicts. Please note where a defendant has been arraigned on charges within multiple offence categories, the individual will be recorded more than once.

Key Points and Trends for Murder and Manslaughter

From 31 March 2022 murder and manslaughter offences have been included in the annual reporting. During 2023 the Service Police initiated two investigations into murder or attempted murder. There was one investigation into manslaughter. During investigation, one allegation of murder was transferred to another policing agency.

The investigations into murder involved three or fewer suspects and two victims.

The Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) received no case referrals from the Service Police for murder and manslaughter.

No murder or manslaughter cases were heard at Court Martial in 2023.

Point of Contact: Service Police Policy Further information: Analysis-Publications@mod.gov.uk Background Quality Report: Background Quality Report Would you like to be added to our contact list?, so that we can inform you about updates to these statistics? You can subscribe to updates by emailing Analysis-Publications@mod.gov.uk

Please refer to the Supplementary tables containing all data presented in this publication.

Introduction

These statistics provide information on offences contrary to s.42 of the Armed Forces Act 2006, allegedly committed by Persons Subject to Service Law or Civilians Subject to Service Discipline, where the corresponding offence under the law of England and Wales is an offence contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (SOA 03) or a non-recent sexual offence. From 31 March 2022, these statistics have also provided information on criminal conduct offences of murder and manslaughter . The Armed Forces Act 2006 (AFA 06) provides the legislation for the SJS and this is supported by the Manual of Service Law (MSL), which provides the necessary guidance to those that are required to deliver it.

Statistics are also provided for criminal conduct offences involving Domestic Abuse. The SPA figures for offences of ‘domestic abuse’ relate to the definition contained in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. SPA domestic abuse cases have been identified, as per Crown Prosecution Service practice, with a domestic abuse flag. These figures may duplicate figures from another offence category. The same approach has been applied by MCS. The SJS is primarily delivered by Commanding Officers (COs), the Service Police (the Royal Navy Police (RNP), Royal Military Police (RMP) and Royal Air Force Police (RAFP), Defence Serious Crime Command (DSCC)), the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) and the Military Court Service (MCS).

The Service Police will refer a case to the SPA once the Evidential Sufficiency Test (EST) has been met (as detailed in Section 116 of the AFA 06). The main role of the SPA is to review cases referred to it by the Service Police and the Chain of Command and apply the Full Code Test, to provide advice to the Service Police on investigations, and to prosecute appropriate cases at the Court Martial and other Service courts. Offences contrary to the SOA 03, non-recent sexual offences murder and manslaughter cannot be heard summarily by a CO. These must be referred by the Service Police to the SPA for a decision to prosecute or not, applying the Full Code Test contained in the Code for Crown Prosecutors (is there a realistic prospect of conviction and is it in the public (including the Service) interest to prosecute).

The procedure in the Court Martial mirrors the civilian Crown Court in England and Wales and cases are heard by a Judge Advocate appointed by the Judge Advocate General and a Board (jury equivalent) of three or six, comprising of officers , warrant officers and OR7s. From 1 January 2023 the law requires at least one man and one woman member to sit on every Court Martial Board.

Judge Advocates are independent civilian judges, administered by the Ministry of Justice and selected through the Judicial Appointments Commission in the same way as all civilian judges. All Judge Advocates sit both in the Court Martial and the Crown Court. The Judge Advocate General is a Circuit Judge.

The Court Martial can impose the majority of sentences available to the Crown Court up to and including imprisonment for life, as well as a range of specific Service punishments including Service detention at the Military Corrective Training Centre. Further background about the Service Justice System and its workings can be found in the background quality report.

The AFA 06 can be found at: Armed Forces Act 2006 The MSL can be found at: Manual of Service Law The Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009 can be found at: Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009

Service Police Investigations Into Sexual Offences

Between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023, the Service Police initiated a total of 284 investigations into sexual offences contrary to the SOA 03 and non-recent sexual offences. 272 were into offences contrary to the SOA 03 and 12 were investigations into non-recent sexual offences. The total number has fluctuated compared to 2021 and 2022 (239 and 342 investigations respectively). Investigations that were reported as sexual offences but then reclassified to a non-sexual offence have not been included in these statistics. Attempted offences are included where reported as such and where they are the headline offence.

There were 22 Forensic Medical Examinations offered to a person reporting a rape or sexual assault by penetration. Of these, 21 were accepted and 1 declined. MOD policy requires all people who report they were the victim of a rape or sexual assault by penetration within the forensic medical examination best practice window (7 days) to be offered an FME. They may also be offered an FME outside this window. 66 % of reported rape (Section 1) and sexual assault by penetration (Section 2) allegations were reported outside the 14 days window for a forensic medical examination. Of the 21 FME conducted, 20 occurred within 96 hours of the reported offence.

This forensic time window is detailed to Police Forces by the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All Victims who are within the forensic window are offered the opportunity to attend a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC). Where a victim falls just outside the forensic window there can be communication between investigators and the SARC to determine whether an examination is appropriate. Guidance stipulates a forensic window period of 7 days for all penetrative Sexual Offences.

SOA 03 And Non-recent Sexual Offences Investigations By Service Police In 2023

The Defence Serious Crime Command became operational on 5 December 2022 and takes primacy investigating all serious crime in Defence. Where other Service Police entities, such as the Royal Military Police, have been required to investigate an allegation is often owing to unique operational circumstances and reporting procedures. Consultation by DSCU is always provided and investigations will transfer to DSCU when appropriate to do so. In 2023, one investigation was conducted by the Royal Navy Police, five by the Royal Military Police, three by the Royal Air Force Police and 13 investigations were carried out by Joint Service Police Units. 262 investigations were conducted by the Defence Serious Crime Command .

Service Police SOA 03 Investigations By Type of Offence In 2023

The number of SOA 03 investigations in 2023 for Rape (60 investigations) and Sexual Assault with Penetration (11 investigations) has decreased in comparison to 2022 (62 and 18 investigations respectively). Investigations in 2023 for Sexual Assault with No Penetration (180 investigations) have decreased by 48 investigations compared to 2022. Investigations into Exposure (six investigations) have remained the same compared to the six investigations since 2022. Investigations into voyeurism (five investigations) have decreased by eight since 2022 and non-recent investigations (12 investigations) have increased by three since 2022.

Of the total of 284 investigations (including non-recent sexual offences), 102 were still under investigation at the end of 2023 and 184 were concluded. Of the 184 concluded, 89 (48 %) were referred to the SPA by the Service Police and 95 (52 %) did not lead to a referral.

Comparisons with 2022 show that the number of cases referred has decreased by 68 cases, and the number not referred has increased by 11 cases. The number of ongoing investigations has decreased by eight since 2022. Some cases referred to the SPA may have involved more than one suspect and as such the sum of the referrals may not equal the number of investigations.

Of the total of 284 investigations conducted by the Service Police in 2023, 186 investigations occurred in the UK, which is a decrease of 58 cases compared to 2022. 14 Investigations occurred in Germany, which is a decrease of three from 2022 and 16 occurred in Cyprus, which shows an increase of one since 2022. There was one investigation conducted in Canada which is a decrease of one compared to 2022. There was a decrease of two investigations occurring in other countries (52 investigations) compared to 2022. 2023 investigations saw a slight increase for the remaining locations listed in comparison to 2022 (see supplementary Excel tables that accompany this report).

Figure 1: Percentage Of 2023 SOA 03 Suspects by Service

276 suspects were identified in investigations conducted by the Service Police in 2023. This figure does not include non-recent offences. Of these suspects, 243 were male, eight were female and there were 25 instances where the sex was unknown. By Service, 38 suspects were from the Royal Navy/Royal Marines, 145 were from the Army, 63 were from the RAF, there were four civilians and there were 26 instances where the Service was unknown.

Figure 2: Percentage Of 2023 SOA 03 Victims by Service

294 victims were identified in investigations conducted by the Service Police in 2023. This figure does not include non-recent offences. By Service, 37 were from the Royal Navy/Royal Marines, 148 were recorded as being from the Army, 71 were from the RAF, 34 were civilians, three or fewer were from other Forces and three or fewer were unrecorded or unknown. Further breakdowns by age and rank, together with comparisons to the 2021 and 2022 figures, can be found for both Suspects and Victims in the supplementary Excel tables that accompany this report.

The 12 non-recent Sexual Offences that were investigated in 2023 consisted of 18 suspects, 13 of whom were male, none were female and five were unrecorded or unknown. For suspects by Service, three or fewer were recorded as being from the Royal Navy/ Royal Marines, 10 were recorded as from the Army, zero were from the RAF, zero were civilian and the number unrecorded or unknown has been withheld to prevent disclosure of personal information. There were 12 identified victims, of which three were male and nine were female. For victims by Service, three or fewer were recorded as being from the Royal Navy/ Royal Marines or civilian and nine were recorded as from the Army. A more detailed breakdown of these offences, with comparisons to 2021 and 2022 can be found in the supplementary Excel tables that accompany this report.

Service Prosecuting Authority - Sexual Offences

Between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023, the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) received 159 case referrals from the Service Police, a decrease of 73 cases. Of the 159 case referrals received, 33 were still under consideration at the end of 2023 and 126 were concluded. Of the 126 concluded cases, the SPA brought charges contrary to the SOA 03 and non-recent sexual offences in 44 (35 %) cases , 63 (50 %) were non-directed, nine (7 %) were referred to the CO and in 10 (8 %) of cases an alternative non-sexual offence was charged. Further breakdowns of these figures against those for 2021 and 2022 can be found in the supplementary Excel tables that accompany this report. These figures do not include figures for Indecent Images of Children offences (12 Indecent Images of Children offence cases were referred in 2023 to the SPA by the Service Police in 2023. Six cases have been charged, five were non-directed and one is awaiting decision). Five child sex cases (involving offences contrary to s3, ss9 - 15 of SOA 03 and s14 of SOA 1956) were referred to the SPA by the Service Police in 2023. Charges were brought in one of these cases, there was no direction in one of the cases and three cases await a decision. Within the category of child sex cases, one of the referrals was in respect of civilians and there was no direction in this case.

The SPA statistics represent the number of cases referred. A case referred to the SPA may relate to multiple suspected offences. The statistics associate cases with the most serious (headline) offence that was referred. This means that in cases where, for example, it is reported that a case was charged, the headline offence on referral may not have been charged. A case referred to the SPA may relate to multiple accused.

Figure 3: Referrals to Service Prosecuting Authority for Sexual Offences - Charging Decisions 1 January to 31 Dec 2023 :

Of the 159 cases referred to the SPA in 2023, the Defence Serious Crime Unit referred 131 cases with sexual offence charges brought in 34 cases, 53 not charged, seven referred to the CO and five charged with alternative non-sexual offences. The Royal Navy/Royal Marines police referred three cases, with sexual offence charges brought in two cases, no cases were not charged, referred to the CO or charged with alternative non-sexual offences. 23 cases were referred by the RMP with sexual offence charges brought in seven cases, nine not charged, two referred to the CO, and five charged with alternative non-sexual offences. The RAF Police referred two cases, with sexual offence charges brought in one case, one not charged and no cases were referred to the CO or charged with alternative non-sexual offences.

Court Martial Results for Sexual Offences

Between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023, 98 defendants were tried before the Court Martial for sexual offences and/or indecent images of children offences, of whom 39 (40 %) were convicted. The 98 defendants faced a total of 156 sexual offence charges (including charges relating to non-recent sexual offences and IIOC). Of these charges, 65 (42 %) resulted in guilty verdicts in respect of the charge. This is a decrease of 30 defendants and 63 charges from 2022. Further breakdowns and comparisons are presented in the Excel supplementary tables that accompany this report. Please note where a defendant has been arraigned on charges within multiple offence categories, they will be recorded more than once.

Court Martial SOA 03 and non-recent sexual offences Verdicts 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

Of the 156 charges heard by the Court Martial in 2023, the Royal Navy/Royal Marines accounted for 11 charges, of these charges three resulted in guilty verdicts and eight resulted in not guilty verdicts. The Army accounted for 102 charges, of these charges 37 resulted in guilty verdicts and 64 resulted in not guilty verdicts. The RAF accounted for 43 charges, of these charges 25 resulted in guilty verdicts and 18 resulted in not guilty verdicts.

Indecent Images of Children

There were 22 investigations in to 29 suspects regarding indecent images of children. Of those, 55 % were cases of suspected distribution of indecent photograph/pseudo image. Of these investigations, one has been referred and 15 remain under investigation. There could be more than one victim per case, no identifiable victim or may relate to a pseudo image. In addition to 22 cases, two cases were transferred Home Office Police Force for investigation, or formed part of their enquiries. Of the investigations, three related to suspects in the Royal Navy/ Royal Marines, 16 in the Army and three in the RAF. Seven were either civilian or unknown service/civilian.

A pseudo-photograph is an image made by computer-graphics or otherwise which appears to be a photograph. This can include photographs, videos, tracings and derivatives of a photograph or data that can be converted into a photograph. These investigations may therefore have no identifiable victim(s) or victim(s).

Service Prosecuting Authority – Indecent Images of Children

Between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023, the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) received 12 case referrals from the Service Police, a similar number of cases compared to 2022. Of the 12 case referrals received, one was still under consideration at the end of 2023 and 11 were concluded. Of the 11 concluded cases, the SPA brought charges in six (55 %) cases and five (45 %) was non-directed.

Court Martial Results for Indecent Images of Children

Of the 34 charges heard by the Court Martial in 2023, the Army accounted for nine charges, all nine of which resulted in guilty verdicts. The RAF accounted for 25 charges, 19 of which resulted in guilty verdicts and six not-guilty verdicts.

Domestic Abuse

There were 78 investigations of 82 suspects regarding domestic abuse. Of those investigations, 26 % related to suspected battery. The remainder of cases include a range of suspected offences including cases where there was no application of physical violence (for example, coercive behaviour or false imprisonment). Of these cases, 21 were referred, 32 were not referred and 25 are still under investigation. There were 79 reported victims, the majority of whom were female. six were in the Royal Navy/Royal Marines, 29 in the Army, 12 in the RAF and 32 were civilians or unspecified. There may be more than one victim per case .

Service Prosecuting Authority – Domestic Abuse

Between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023, the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) received 26 case referrals from the Service Police that were flagged as Domestic Abuse Of the 26 case referrals flagged, 11 were still under consideration at the end of 2023 and 15 were concluded. Of the 15 concluded cases, the SPA preferred charges in one (7 %) cases and 14 (93 %) were non-directed.

Court Martial Results for Domestic Abuse

Between 01 January 2023 and 31 December 2023, six defendants were tried before the Court Martial for cases identified as domestic abuse. Of those defendants, four (67 %) were convicted and two (33 %) were acquitted.

Murder and Manslaughter Investigations by Service Police in 2023

Between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023, the Service Police initiated three investigations into murder and manslaughter allegations. Attempted offences are included where reported as such and where they are the headline offence. During 2023 the Service Police initiated two investigations into murder and one into manslaughter. There were three suspects, all of whom were males in the Army. no cases have been referred, however one case has been transferred to another policing agency. Two cases remain under investigation. There were three victims, two of whom were males and one which is unspecified.

Further Information

Disclosure control

Figures which could lead to the inadvertent identification of a victim or suspect of an offence contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003 have been suppressed and summarised as “three or fewer” cases.

Revisions

Corrections to the published statistics will be made if errors are found, or if figures change because of improvements to methodology or changes to definitions. When making corrections, we will follow the Ministry of Defence Statistics, revisions and corrections policy. All corrected figures will be identified by the symbol “r”, and an explanation will be given of the reason for and size of the revision. Corrections which would have a significant impact on the utility of the statistics will be corrected as soon as possible, by reissuing the publication. Minor errors will also be corrected, but for convenience these corrections may be timed to coincide with the next release of the publication.

Contact us

Defence Statistics welcome feedback on our statistical products. If you have any comments or questions about this publication or about our statistics in general, you can contact us as follows:

Telephone: 030 679 84458 Email: Analysis-Publications@mod.gov.uk

If you require information which is not available within this or other available publications, you may wish to submit a Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to the Ministry of Defence.

Other points of contact within Defence Statistics are:

Defence Expenditure Analysis	033 6793 4531	Analysis-Expenditure-PQ-FOI@mod.gov.uk
Price Indices	030 6793 2100	Analysis-Econ-PI-SeniorTeamLdr@mod.gov.uk
Naval Service Personnel Statistics	023 9254 7426	Analysis-Navy-Hd@mod.gov.uk
Army Personnel Statistics	01264 886175	Analysis-Army-Hd@mod.gov.uk
RAF Personnel Statistics	01494 496822	Analysis-Air-Hd@mod.gov.uk
Tri-Service Personnel Statistics	020 7807 8896	Analysis-Tri-Hd@mod.gov.uk
Civilian Personnel Statistics	020 7218 1359	Analysis-Surveys-Civilian-Hd@mod.gov.uk
Health Information	030 6798 4423	Analysis-Health-PQ-FOI@mod.gov.uk

If you wish to correspond by email, our postal address is:

Defence Statistics (WDS)
Ministry of Defence, Main Building
Floor 3 Zone M
Whitehall
London
SW1A 2HB

For general MOD enquiries, please call: 020 721 89000