London's conviction rate for rape is the lowest across Britain

LONDON has the lowest rate of rape convictions in the country with less than half of cases brought to court ending in prosecution, figures show today.

According to Crown Prosecution Service statistics, 45.5 per cent of rape defendants in the capital were convicted during the 12 months to the end of last April. The proportion is well below the national success rate for rape prosecutions of 57.7 per cent.

It is far adrift from other metropolitan areas such as the West Midlands, with 61.5 per cent during the same period, Greater Manchester (62.1 per cent), and West Yorkshire (75.8 per cent). Officials said one explanation for London's lack of success was the capital's rapidly changing population, which increased the risk that witnesses or victims would not be present or willing to testify in court. A "robust" approach to bringing cases to trial was also seen as a factor.

The low conviction rate - which comes as Met figures show a 17 per cent year-on-year rise in reported rapes - will increase concerns that some attackers are escaping justice. The CPS statistics were in a report on its work to tackle violence against women. In 2007-08 a total of 851 rape prosecutions were brought to court, of which 387 ended in conviction.

The remaining 464 defendants were cleared either by a jury or because the case collapsed for reasons such as the victim retracting evidence.

Other cases failed after prosecutors decided the testimony of key witnesses, including the victim, was "unreliable" or there was a conflict of evidence.

Dru Sharpling, London's chief crown prosecutor, admitted more needed to be done to improve performance. "We take rape prosecution very seriously and have dedicated rape prosecution specialists. Of the 3,500 national rape prosecutions in 2007-08, London dealt with almost 25 per cent of them."

Meanwhile, the latest Met figures, which cover the year to the end of last October, show that 2,298 rape attacks were reported - a 17.4 per cent rise on the year before. Croydon had the worst figures, 157 reported attacks - more than double the figure for the previous year - followed by Newham, which has seen a 32per cent rise to a total of 140. Hackney, Lambeth, Southwark and Westminster each saw more than 100 attacks.

The reasons for the rise in offences are uncertain, but one explanation cited has been a greater willingness of women to report attacks because of the introduction of specialist officers trained to deal sensitively with victims and take allegations seriously in all cases.