CPS says new law marked ‘significant shift in recognising serious nature’ of offence, often linked to domestic abuse and sexual assault
The number of suspects charged for strangulation and suffocation in England and Wales has increased almost sixfold in the three years since the offence was first introduced, Crown Prosecution Service data has revealed.
Brought in under the Domestic Abuse Act, which came into force in 2022, the legislation closed a gap in the existing law, giving courts much greater sentencing powers.
Kate Brown, the CPS’s lead prosecutor for domestic abuse, said that previously there had been “a lot of cases for which it didn’t seem like we had the right offence”, and the new legislation marked “a significant shift in recognising the serious nature of the offence”.
“There were some thoughts that it might not be necessary and that the act of strangulation or suffocation could be covered by other offences,” she said, but added that the options previously open to prosecutors “didn’t really hit the mark in terms of the seriousness, because strangulation is a really serious offence”.
