Sexual offence section 70

12th August 2025

Our Ref: FOI2025/06154

Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Ref No: FOI2025/06154

I write in connection with your request for information received on 15th July.  I note you seek access to the following information:

I am writing to request information about unnatural sexual offences recorded by police forces under the Freedom of Information Act.

Please could you provide the number of recorded offences under Section 70 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (“sexual penetration of a corpse”) between 2020 and 2025 (if available), broken down by year.

If it assists your search, this offence may also be referred to using terms such as necrophilia or sexual interference with a corpse. If any other offence codes or descriptions are used locally for cases involving this conduct, I would appreciate those figures being included as well.

If possible within the cost limit, I would also be grateful for:
- The outcome or disposal of each offence (e.g. charge, no further action)
- Whether the victim was identified (e.g. case involving a named deceased individual vs. unknown).

If this request exceeds the appropriate cost limit, I would appreciate any advice on how it could be refined.

I am required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (The Act) to handle all requests in a manner that is blind to the identity of the requestor. Any information released in response to a request is regarded as being published and therefore, in the public domain without caveat.

Response - Following enquiries within the Constabulary please see our response below.

There was 1 recorded offence between 2020 to 2025.

(Searched for HO Code 088/11 – Sexual Penetration of a Corpse).

The outcome was outcome 16 – Named suspect identified, evidential difficulties prevent further action

The victim was identified

The numerical data presented in this response is an un-audited snapshot of un-published data sourced from "live" systems and is subject to the interpretation of the original request by the individual extracting the data.