More than 1,600 suspected rapists reportedly ‘charged’ by police over the last five years have in fact been charged with other offences, shock new figures have revealed.

A freedom of information request submitted by NationalWorld now shows that between April 2017 and September 2022, in almost 10% of rape cases that ended in a charge, the suspect was actually charged with something else. The inflation was most pronounced in the year ending September 2020, when 16% of charges, or one in six, were for alternative offences.

Labour’s Emily Thornberry, shadow attorney general, described the figures as “hugely alarming” and called on the government to urgently provide “full transparency [...] about the reality on rape charge rates”.