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What we can't tell you · Partial

What is the nationality of suspects and offenders, by offence?

Partial Official data answers part of the question: some categories, some years, some geographies or one stage of a process.

Why

Police-recorded crime does not carry suspect nationality; ONS FOI-2025-3064 (11 September 2025) states ONS does not hold it. Nationality is published at the prison stage: Offender management statistics table 1_A_26 gives the prison population by nationality, custody type, sex and offence group each June, and the Home Office "Statistics on foreign national offenders and the immigration system" (first published 22 April 2025) gives foreign national offenders removed or leaving detention by nationality, offence group and sentence length. Nationality of defendants prosecuted or convicted is not in the Criminal justice statistics.

What is known

What is not known

  • Suspect nationality in police-recorded crime
  • Prosecutions and convictions by nationality and offence

Who holds the data

  • Ministry of Justice (prisons, courts)
  • Home Office (immigration status of offenders)
  • Police forces (Police National Computer records nationality for arrested people)

Would a Freedom of Information request help?

Possibly. Prison and Police National Computer records hold nationality; the Ministry of Justice answers ad hoc requests, but conviction-by-nationality would need a record linkage that is not routinely made.

Privacy and disclosure restrictions

Nationality is self-declared at reception into prison; small nationality groups are combined.

Official sources checked

Last reviewed 2026-09-02. Availability changes; if a publication now answers this question, challenge the classification below.

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