The number of incidents of stalking in Staffordshire has soared in recent years, despite new legal powers being brought in to protect stalking victims.

The latest data follows a BBC investigation that found that these new legal powers are not being used by all police forces.

Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) are a new civil power available to police which impose restrictions on suspected stalkers. They are designed to make it easier to curb the behaviour of stalkers, with a lower burden of proof required than for a criminal conviction.

But data shows the use of SPOs, which have been available to police forces in England and Wales since January 2020, varies widely from force to force, with four failing to apply for a single order in the past fifteen months.

An investigation by the BBC's shared data unit found that in Staffordshire there were 1,327 incidents of stalking recorded in April - December 2020, compared to only 199 incidents in April 2016 - April 2017.

Despite this huge increase, only four SPOs have been applied in Staffordshire over the last 15 months.

The number of stalking incidents recorded in Staffordshire each year are as follows:

- 2016 - 2017: 199

- 2017 - 2018: 305

- 2018 - 2019: 836

- 2019 - 2020: 777

- April - December 2020: 1,327

In England, just 294 orders have been granted since January 2020, despite more than 55,000 stalking incidents being recorded by police in the nine months to December 2020 alone.

And the national charge rate for stalking offences is at its lowest point for five years, falling from 23% in 2015/16 to just 6% for the nine months to December 2020.

Clive Ruggles is the father of Alice Ruggles, who was murdered by her stalker in 2017.

He said there is a "desperate need" to make the use of SPOs more consistent across police forces.

He commented: "There's a desperate need to make things far more consistent across the board.

The number of reported cases is just about doubling every year.

"If we carry on at this rate it's going to get a lot worse. We desperately need better tools and resources so police can follow up properly and actually protect the victim."

Lisa King, communications director at domestic violence charity Refuge, added: "This really should be a wakeup call for police forces across the country to get the training in place, and then start to message also that these orders are there, that women and men can use, so that they are taken up and protection is given."

And Suky Bhaker, CEO of stalking charity the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said: "Stalking is about a pattern of behaviour. It's about a fixation obsession. And often when victims call the police an isolated incident is what's been recorded, rather than the full pattern of putting that together.

"It's absolutely imperative that when those orders are breached, the full force of law is used and offenders are prosecuted otherwise it sends a message that perpetrators can act with impunity, that there's not going to be repercussions for those actions."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Stalking Protection Orders stop perpetrators in their tracks and prevent them contacting victims. We expect police forces to make full use of them.

"The Home Office and College of Policing have worked closely with forces to produce guidance on issuing them.

"Next week, Home Office officials will meet with the police and other stakeholders who work to tackle stalking to set out our findings on how effectively police forces have been using SPOs and discuss how to improve this."

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