Around a third of reported rapes in Bexley and Greenwich were not recorded as crimes by the Met last year and so were not investigated further, "startling" research has revealed.

The data also showed the number of reported rapes in Bromley soared by 52 per cent between 2012 and 2013. 

A full break-down of the figures in the News Shopper patches can be seen below.

Figures given to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) by the CPS has shown police categorised a significant number of rape allegations across London as ‘crime-related incidents’ or ‘no crimes’ – this means they were not investigated unless new evidence emerged.

The research, which the (TBIJ) shared with News Shopper, has exposed Bexley and Greenwich as some of the most likely boroughs in London to dismiss rape allegations in this way.

Lambeth had the highest number of rape allegations not recorded as a crime (32 per cent) followed by Greenwich and Kingston-upon-Thames (31 per cent).

'Pressure on the police'

Deputy Editor at the TBIJ, Rachel Oldroyd, told News Shopper: "The Met produces full and clear statistics on rape - it is one of the only forces to do so.

"There has been much pressure on the police across all crimes and all forces to reduce the number of 'no crimes' they record."

"The issue we found most startling in the data was some areas in London are investigating virtually all allegations of rape while others are dismissing up to a third - and this is much better than in 2012 when Lambeth dropped 40 per cent of all rape allegations."

Met Police statement

A spokesman said: "We voluntarily referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission who took the decision to return it to the Met to be looked at locally.

"That investigation, by officers from our Directorate of Professional Standards, is ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate to discuss further at this time."

Bexley

  • Almost a third (30 per cent) of reported rapes in Bexley were not recorded as crimes last year
  • Police categorised 13 rape allegations as ‘crime-related incidents’ and 13 as ‘no crimes’ out of the 84 cases
  • In 2012, 36 per cent of reported incidents were dismissed in this way
  • The number of reported rapes in Bexley rose by 21 per cent from 69 in 2012 to 84 in 2013

Greenwich

  • Around 31 per cent were not recorded as crimes
  • Greenwich came second highest for the number of reported rapes dismissed by the Met, along with Kingston-upon-Thames
  • Police categorised 29 rape allegations as ‘crime-related incidents’ and 23 as ‘no crimes’ out of 168 cases
  • In 2012, 36 per cent of reported incidents were dismissed in this way in the borough

Bromley

  • A quarter of rape allegations in Bromley were not categorised as crime by the Met last year
  • Police categorised 24 rape allegations as ‘crime-related incidents’ and nine as ‘no crimes’ out of the 130 reported incidents
  • The number of reported rapes in Bromley shot up by 52 per cent between 2012 and 2013 - from 85 incidents to 130

Lewisham

  • One fifth of reported rapes in Lewisham were not recorded as crimes last year
  • Police categorised 23 rape allegations as ‘crime-related incidents’ and 17 as ‘no crimes’
  • This meant 31 per cent of the 168 reported rape cases were not investigated unless new evidence emerged
  • In 2012, 24 per cent of reported incidents were dismissed in this way in the borough