DA protective order breaches
Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FOI/26/009802/Y
Version Date: 07/05/2026
The Performance & Analysis Department has provided the following information:
Data Source:
Crime information system – Niche
Data Processing:
Cancelled crimes excluded, Non notifiable crimes excluded
Qliksense Report: Crime and Outcomes
Filtered by crimed date: January 1st 2023 to December 31st 2025
Offence Description:
Breach of non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 (recordable)
Harassment - breach of a restraining order after acquittal (recordable) - Section 5A(2D) and (2E) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997
Harassment - breach of a restraining order on conviction (recordable) - Contrary to section 363(1) and (2) of the Sentencing Act 2020
Harassment - breach of restraining order
Arrest - Filtered on Linked Arrest: Yes
Charges - Filtered on the Outcome of: Charged/Summonsed
No further action - Filtered on the Outcomes of:
Evidential Difficulties - Victim Declines
Victim no Support
Suspect Identified - Evidential Difficulties
Qliksense Report: DVPN and DVPO Data
Filtered by date: January 1st 2023 to December 31st 2025
Event: DVPO Breach and DVPN Breach
Data Limitations/ Caveats:
Outcome data pertaining to DVPN/DVPO breaches is not held in a structured format and would require manually reviewing every recorded breach in order to obtain the outcome. This would make the request over the 18-hour fee limit.
Charge data is based on outcome 1 (Charged/Summons), but excludes outcome 1A (relating to a Charge/Summons for an alternate offence).
I am requesting data regarding reported breaches of protective orders related to domestic abuse and harassment. Please could you provide the following
information for the last three complete calendar years (2023, 2024, and 2025), broken down by each individual year:
1. Total Reported Breaches The total number of reported crimes/incidents recorded for the breach of:
• a) Restraining Orders
• b) Non-Molestation Orders
• c) Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs)
• d) Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs)
|
Protection Order Breaches |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
Grand Total |
|
Breach of non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 (recordable) |
244 |
257 |
181 |
682 |
|
Harassment - breach of a restraining order after acquittal (recordable) - Section 5A(2D) and (2E) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 |
23 |
22 |
11 |
56 |
|
Harassment - breach of a restraining order on conviction (recordable) - Contrary to section 363(1) and (2) of the Sentencing Act 2020 |
204 |
255 |
246 |
705 |
|
Harassment - breach of restraining order |
8 |
- |
- |
8 |
|
Grand Total |
479 |
534 |
438 |
1451 |
Of the 1451 crimes, 702 had a linked arrest.
|
Arrests following Protection Order Breaches |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
Grand Total |
|
Breach of non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 (recordable) |
86 |
102 |
86 |
274 |
|
Harassment - breach of a restraining order after acquittal (recordable) - Section 5A(2D) and (2E) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 |
14 |
17 |
3 |
34 |
|
Harassment - breach of a restraining order on conviction (recordable) - Contrary to section 363(1) and (2) of the Sentencing Act 2020 |
93 |
151 |
146 |
390 |
|
Harassment - breach of restraining order |
4 |
- |
- |
4 |
|
Grand Total |
197 |
270 |
235 |
702 |
Year is based on the offence crimes date, not the outcome date.
|
DVPO/DVPN Breaches |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
Grand Total |
|
DVPN Breached |
22 |
18 |
11 |
51 |
|
DVPO Breached |
54 |
21 |
30 |
105 |
|
Grand Total |
76 |
39 |
41 |
156 |
Please note, outcome data pertaining to DVPN/DVPO breaches is not held in a structured format and would require manually reviewing every recorded breach in order to obtain the outcome.
Devon & Cornwall Police does not have Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPO) hence there are no recorded DAPO breaches.
- Outcomes of Breaches For each of the four categories above, please provide a breakdown of the outcomes for those recorded breaches, specifically:
• a) The number of breaches that resulted in an arrest.
• b) The number of breaches that resulted in a charge/summons (Home Office Outcome Code 1).
• c) The number of breaches that were closed with "No Further Action" (specifically, Home Office Outcome Codes 14, 15, and 16 relating to evidential difficulties).
|
Protection Orders with Outcome of Charged/Summonsed |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
Grand Total |
|
Breach of non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 (recordable) |
64 |
63 |
54 |
181 |
|
Harassment - breach of a restraining order after acquittal (recordable) - Section 5A(2D) and (2E) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 |
12 |
16 |
5 |
33 |
|
Harassment - breach of a restraining order on conviction (recordable) - Contrary to section 363(1) and (2) of the Sentencing Act 2020 |
85 |
127 |
105 |
317 |
|
Harassment - breach of restraining order |
3 |
- |
- |
3 |
|
Grand Total |
164 |
206 |
164 |
534 |
Year is based on the offence crimed date, not the outcome date.
It is important to note that an offence may have more than one outcome - the outcome provided is the most serious outcome attached to the offence.
Of the 1451 crimes, 630 were assigned an outcome relating to evidential difficulties.
|
Protection Orders with Outcome relating to Evidential Difficulties |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
Grand Total |
|
Breach of non-molestation order - Family Law Act 1996 (recordable) |
110 |
141 |
88 |
339 |
|
Harassment - breach of a restraining order after acquittal (recordable) - Section 5A(2D) and (2E) of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 |
7 |
4 |
5 |
16 |
|
Harassment - breach of a restraining order on conviction (recordable) - Contrary to section 363(1) and (2) of the Sentencing Act 2020 |
79 |
93 |
101 |
273 |
|
Harassment - breach of restraining order |
2 |
- |
- |
2 |
|
Grand Total |
198 |
238 |
194 |
630 |
Year is based on the offence crimed date, not the outcome date.
It is important to note that an offence may have more than one outcome - the outcome provided is the most serious outcome attached to the offence.
Section 12 (Cost Limit) Mitigation: I understand that extracting arrest data specifically may require cross-referencing custody and crime systems. If determining the number of arrests triggers the cost limit under Section 12 of the Act, please omit the arrest data (Question 2a) and proceed with providing the recorded breaches (Question 1) and the final Home Office Outcomes (Questions 2b and 2c).