The number of suspects charged for strangulation and suffocation in England and Wales has increased almost sixfold in the three years since the offence was first introduced, Crown Prosecution Service data has revealed.

Brought in under the Domestic Abuse Act, which came into force in 2022, the legislation closed a gap in the existing law, giving courts much greater sentencing powers.

Kate Brown, the CPS’s lead prosecutor for domestic abuse, said that previously there had been “a lot of cases for which it didn’t seem like we had the right offence”, and the new legislation marked “a significant shift in recognising the serious nature of the offence”.

“There were some thoughts that it might not be necessary and that the act of strangulation or suffocation could be covered by other offences,” she said, but added that the options previously open to prosecutors “didn’t really hit the mark in terms of the seriousness, because strangulation is a really serious offence”.

Suffocation and strangulation carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, whereas previously, except for the most serious cases which could be charged as grievous bodily harm or attempted murder, prosecutors were having to charge offenders with common assault, which carries a much lesser maximum sentence of six months.

“What we know from victims is it can be absolutely terrifying that they genuinely believe that at the time they’re being strangled, this is it, that they may die,” Brown said.

Releasing data on the offence for the first time, CPS figures show that charges rose from 1,483 in 2022–23 to 8,545 in 2024–25.

In the first quarter of 2025–26 alone, 2,656 charges were recorded, indicating it is likely that numbers will raise again next year.

In London, charges rose by more than 550%, from 140 in 2022–23 to 919 in 2024–25, and in the north-west of England numbers increased from 238 to 1,104 over the same time period, while in Yorkshire and Humberside, 989 people were charged, compared with 179 three years ago.

In September Michael Cosgrove, 46, of Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, was jailed for 20 years after being found guilty of attempted murder and intentional strangulation.

In August, Anton Tinsdeall, aged 38, from Wellingborough, was sentenced to four years in prison by Northampton crown court, after being convicted of strangulation, causing actual bodily harm and assault on a police officer.

And last week, Sean Duffin, 46, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 12 years by Liverpool crown court after being found guilty of rape, sexual assault and strangulation.

The increase in the number of charges is, Brown said, likely to be down to prosecutors making greater use of the legislation, as well as more victims coming forward to report crimes.

“The police are identifying them and putting them through to us,” Brown said, “and then as prosecutors have become more familiar with the legislation that’s enabled us to charge more.”

Also the chief prosecutor for the Wessex region, Brown joined the CPS 30 years ago and has been its lead on domestic abuse for more than five years. Often, she said, strangulation or suffocation is charged alongside other offences such as coercive control, sexual offences, or image-based abuse, with “90% of the strangulations in the domestic abuse field”.

The CPS has said it is training prosecutors to recognise these “layers of abuse” and has invested heavily this year in trauma training for prosecutors. The organisation’s recently released violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy also sets out that “strangulation is a high-harm, high-risk offence in domestic abuse offending”.

“It is not unusual for a violent offence, and it may be strangulation, to trigger an arrest,” Brown said. “But what then you discover is that things have been going on for a long time that are perhaps short of violence but culminate to the violence.

“So it’s very important that the police investigate that and that we look at that and look to prosecute the multiple elements of that behaviour.”

Research from the Institute for Addressing Strangulation, Brown said, has also found “that suffocation is finding its way into sexual relationships, particularly with young people”.

However, she said consent was not a defence for strangulation and suffocation, adding that “there is no safe way to suffocate, and suffocation can have some enormous, long lasting physical impacts as well as psychological impacts”.

In cases of suffocation and strangulation, Brown said, victims may not show any signs of physical injury, and may not have sought medical help. But, she said, that would not necessarily deter prosecutors from bringing a case.

“It’s such a serious offence that we would really encourage people to report it, and also to seek help and support,” she said, adding that the CPS would look to prosecute “where the evidence is there” and said “we are not deterred by the lack of injury”.

“Strangulations are rarely isolated incidents,” the solicitor general, Ellie Reeves, said. “Victims are often subjected to sustained physical and psychological abuse, causing long-lasting harm and destroying lives. This must end now.”

She added: “This government is committed to halving violence against women and girls, and to ensure that every woman and girl feels safe. Prosecutors play a vital role in taking down the perpetrators of strangulation, and I will be relentless in my role as solicitor general in supporting victims of these heinous crimes.”

“The really significant thing about strangulation is it is a trigger offence to even more violence,” Brown said. “It’s a complete exploitation of power. You have somebody’s life in your hands, and that could ultimately lead to a murder, to a death.”

She said it was “really important” that offences are reported, and that prosecutors will “go below just that offence, and see and understand what’s been happening” so that “offenders can be brought to justice for the extent of their criminal behaviour” and the “ongoing domestic abuse, which causes such misery and destroys people’s lives”.