THERE were 230 victims of domestic violence recorded in the Cotswolds in the past year – more than double the number four years ago.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Gloucestershire Police by the Standard revealed the sharp rise in the number of victims logged since 2012/13, when there were 114.

Police said the increase was due to the force being better at identifying domestic abuse, and that more offenders were being charged.

While there were 230 victims who saw justice in 2015/16, there were 756 offences logged as domestic violence – a 26 per cent increase on 558 last year.

Of the 230 victims in the past year, 162 were women, 46 were men, and 22 were children.

Almost three quarters (71 per cent) of domestic violence incidents were ‘unresolved’ in 2015/16 as no arrests were made by police, which is up from 58 per cent in 2012/13.

In total, just 22 per cent of crimes reported led to someone being charged in 2015/16.

Although this figure seems low, it shows the difficulty police face in domestic abuse cases, where the victims are often coerced by their attacker into refusing to cooperate with the prosecution.

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

(Police action taken for domestic violence crimes in the Cotswolds in 2015/16 and 2012/13)

Just last week, 39-year-old Michael Berwick was cleared of assaulting his ex-wife and a young girl in Cirencester after they refused to give evidence.

On Friday, Mr Berwick successfully appealed against his conviction at Gloucester Crown Court, with prosecutor Fiona Elder saying: “Our two alleged victims are here but they are refusing to give evidence.”

The judge, Recorder Robert Linford, said the case had left him with “a large degree of unease”.

Detective Superintendent Simon Atkinson, of Gloucestershire Police’s public protection bureau, said the increase in recorded offences was due to the force improving its understanding of the issue, and said significantly more people were being convicted after being charged.

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

(The number of domestic violence incidents recorded by police from 2012 to 2016)

“The constabulary has undertaken a huge training programme around domestic abuse and so our staff’s understanding of what could be a domestic related incident has grown considerably,” he said. “We have doubled the amount of people we charged in the Cotswolds although sometimes there are evidential challenges in bringing cases to court or it may not be the most appropriate action.”

Survive, a charity which supports domestic abuse victims in the county, said there had been a year-on-year increase in people seeking help, and that ‘many domestic abuse incidents go unreported”.