THOUSANDS of stalking crimes have been reported...but few victims get to see their stalkers punished.

Latest figures show out of nearly 100,000 reported stalking cases just eight per cent resulted in a charge or summons in England and Wales.

Meanwhile, new statistics show that stalking cases have nearly tripled in one year in Essex.

Essex Police investigated 2,754 stalking offences in the year from 2020 to 2021.

In the same year a total of 98,544 stalking offences were reported in England and Wales.

This was the first year that the police followed new guidance where all cases of harassment reported between ex-partners are to be recorded as stalking, unless the police don’t believe that stalking was a factor.

In the year before the new guidance there were 33,006 stalking crimes reported.

More recently 60,000 offences have been recorded between the six months from April until September 2021.

The Government introduced stalking protection orders in January 2020 which allow police to intervene early to protect victims.

But despite the increased awareness and police powers, data shows that 84 per cent of stalking cases closed during 2020 to 2021 were dropped due to difficulties gathering evidence.

An Essex Police spokesperson said: “We have seen a rise in reports of stalking and harassment across the country, and Essex is no different.

“This is largely due to changes in the way these offences are recorded by police forces nationally, which came into effect in 2019, but also because victims also have increased confidence in reporting crimes such as these.

“Incidents involving stalking victims are recorded in the most serious crime category and we have specialist officers who support victims and investigate crimes.

“Stalking Protection Orders are just one of a number options available to us and the courts to protect victims, with others including non-molestation orders and strict bail conditions on an offender.

“In many cases, these other measures will provide victims with protection from an offender and Stalking Protection Orders are often considered if further safeguarding is needed.

“All investigating officers are trained to consider a SPO at the beginning of any stalking investigation.”

Violet Alvarez is from the Suzi Lamplugh Trust, the charity set up after the estate agent went missing in 1986.

She said: “The charity was dealing with more distressed clients requiring greater support since the outbreak of Covid-19.

“Stalking is an incredibly prevalent crime with one in five women and one in ten men experiencing stalking in their lifetimes.”

A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: “The Government takes its response to stalking extremely seriously, and we have tripled our funding to the National Stalking Helpline, introduced SPOs and doubled the maximum sentence for stalking from five to ten years.”