Nationality of individuals charged with sexual offences from 2019 to 2023

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.25.047595

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. 1. The number of individuals charged with sexual offences (including rape, sexual assault, and other sexual offences), broken down by nationality (including British nationals), for each of the last five calendar years (2019–2023).
2. Where an individual has dual nationality, please record the first nationality listed.
3. Please supply the data in an Excel (XLSX) or CSV format.
   
   If the request is too broad for cost/time reasons, I would be grateful if you could provide the most recent year (2023) in full.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).

Some information has been refused by virtue of the following Freedom of Information Act exemption:

Section 40 (2) (3A) (a) of the Act – Personal Information.

Reason for decision

The data you have requested pertains to sexual offences broken down by nationality of perpetrators. The MPS has relied on Section 40 of the Act due to very low totals returned for some of the data requested. The data on its own may seem innocuous, however if it is pieced together with information already in the public domain or known locally, there is a risk of identification of victims, accused, witnesses linked to sexual offences.

Disclosure

Please find below a spreadsheet relevant to your request some of which has been redacted as per the exemptions above.

Kindly ensure that the data is read in conjunction with the notes page of the spreadsheet to ensure correct interpretation of the data.

Additionally, please note that the data may be inaccurate / incomplete as the correct nationality may be unknown to individuals inputting / updating records.