A new BBC investigation has revealed that across England and Wales, violent and sexual crimes are among cases that have been wrongfully dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the past year.

It found 60 cases where a victim won a review against proceedings being terminated, including four sexual offences and 31 “offences against the person”, which covers a range of violent offences from harassment to murder.

The cases had been closed by the CPS “offering no evidence”, which results in the accused being found officially not guilty, despite not appearing in front of a jury. Each case could not then be reopened because the defendants had already been cleared. However, the CPS said decisions to halt cases were never taken lightly.

The report found cases of fraud, burglary and robbery that were terminated but, after victims asked for a review, the CPS later admitted they should have been prosecuted.

60 violent and sexual offence cases were wrongfully dropped in the past year in England and Wales