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This Home Office study was commissioned because of concern that the development of a constructive partnership between the police and the public was being hampered by the intimidation of witnesses. The type of life-threatening intimidation dealt with by the police by means of formal witness protection schemes, such as those run by the Metropolitan and Greater Manchester Police, was not looked at. The purpose of the study was to estimate how widespread less severe intimidation actually was, and to advise on how its incidence might be reduced.

The lack of any comprehensive existing data on either the extent or the circumstances of intimidation dictated the need to carry out a large scale survey to estimate the former, and in-depth interviews to build up an accurate picture of the latter.

Title: Witness Intimidation: Strategies for Prevention
Author: Warwick Maynard
Series: Home Office Crime Prevention and Detection Series Paper No.55
Number of pages: 55 (2 for summary)
Date published: 1994

Key points

The main findings of the research can be grouped into two areas. Firstly, on the extent of intimidation:

• on high crime housing estates, 13% of crimes reported by victims and 9% reported by witnesses lead to subsequent intimidation.

• However, 6% of crimes not reported by victims and 22% not reported by witnesses go unreported due to fear of intimidation.

Secondly, on the circumstances in which intimidation occurs: in many cases, before a suspect is apprehended, intimidation of the victim is difficult to prevent where the offender knows the identity of the victim; minor changes in the way the police respond to an incident or proceed with the investigation would greatly reduce the incidence of intimidation of (non-victim)witnesses.

This conclusion was reached only after ascertaining that in a large number of cases, intimidation began immediately after police contact with the witness. Disclosure may be a problem in very serious cases, but this study found no evidence to support the commonly held view that disclosure is the cause of “low-level” witness intimidation found on high-crime estates.

In none of the cases for which in-depth interviews were conducted was the timing of the intimidation linked to the disclosure of case material to the defence; other agencies - such as the courts, the Crown Court Witness Service, the Crown Prosecution Service, the prison service, Victim Support, and local authorities –have roles to play in reducing the incidence of intimidation. Effective working relationships between these agencies and the police service must be strengthened, and good practice must be disseminated and adopted.

Getting a copy

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