Stalking charges reach record high after UK harassment hotspots revealed

Charges for stalking offences have more than quadrupled in the last five years, worrying new data shows.

A Crown Prosecution Service study shows the number of stalking offences which brought charges between April 2025 and March 2026 reached a record high of 8,561. Campaigners had warned that the offences are being 'missed' before murders and suicides.

Last year, police recorded over 135,000 stalking offences in England and Wales, an astonishing rise from just under 3,000 crimes ten years ago, according to analysis by the Lib-Dems. The CPS say soaring charges is likely to reflect an increase in public awareness of the crime, along with a greater understanding of stalking behaviours by police and prosecutors.

Reports of stalking and harassment have risen sharply in recent years, largely due to changes in recording, but also because police officers are better able to identify and record offences. Police and prosecutors continue to work closely to identify patterns of offending to build robust cases against perpetrators.

Rates of reported stalking offences are also climbing, with significant increases recorded in every part of England and Wales, with some of the country’s largest forces seeing a boom in offences .

The Metropolitan Police force recorded 11,798 last year, up from 647 a decade ago, while Greater Manchester Police saw a rise from 96 to 10,649 over the same period.

The CPS believe the sharp increase in reports of stalking and harassment is largely due to changes in recording, but also because police officers are better able to identify and record offences as they work closely to "identify patterns of offending to build robust cases against perpetrators".

Olivia Rose, the CPS's National Stalking Lead, praised a co-ordinated drive between the CPS, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office.

"Stalking is a terrifying and deeply intrusive crime, whether it happens in person or online," she said. "It can leave victims living in fear, feeling isolated as though there is no escape from the shadow of someone else’s behaviour.

“Stalkers have more avenues to offend than ever before with technological advancements, but the record level of offences charged shows that our prosecutors are continuing to drive up the number of charges to deliver justice for more victims.

"Victims and survivors must be at the centre of everything we do. By bringing together survivors, practitioners and experts, we can strengthen our approach to these terrible crimes and hold more offenders to account."

Blackpool has the highest crime rate for stalking offences. Last year, there were 1,016 crimes of stalking recorded in the seaside town. That’s a rate of 7.2 crimes for every 1,000 people in Blackpool.

Crime rates, calculated by dividing the number of crimes by the size of the population, are generally considered the fairest way to compare offending across areas of different sizes.

After Blackpool, Gloucester has the highest stalking rate (5.4 per 1,000 residents), followed by Hyndburn in Lancashire (5.3), Wakefield in West Yorkshire (5.1), and Blaenau Gwent in Wales (5.0).