Rape Offences by Multiple Offenders in Dorset: FOI Disclosure (2010–2025)
In January 2026, Dorset Police published a detailed Freedom of Information (FOI) disclosure that provides historic data on rape and sexual assault offences involving multiple offenders recorded in the force area. The disclosure covers the period 1 January 2010 to 30 November 2025 and was released by the force’s Performance Analysis Department in response to an FOI request.
Purpose of the Disclosure
The FOI request sought to understand how many rape and sexual assault offences were recorded by Dorset Police where two or more offenders were involved in a single offence. The data was extracted from the Niche Crime database, which is the force’s central crime-recording system.
Key Findings: Rape Offences Involving Multiple Offenders
The data shows the number of rape offences involving multiple offenders broken down by the number of offenders and by year from 2015 through to 2025. The key summary from the disclosure is as follows:
Rape with Two Offenders
2015: 13 offences
2016: 16
2017: 22
2018: 13
2019: 27
2020: 20
2021: 31
2022: 24
2023: 37
2024: 29
2025: 22
Total (2015–2025): 254 offences
Rape with Three Offenders
Total across years: 47 offences
Rape with Four Offenders
Total across years: 17 offences
Rape with Five Offenders
Total across years: 1 offence
Rape with Six Offenders
Total across years: 1 offence
Rape with Seven Offenders
Total across years: 1 offence
Rape with Nine or Eleven Offenders
Nine offenders: 2 offences
Eleven offenders: 3 offences
Combined total for these rare categories: 5 offences
Overall Total (2015–2025)
Across all group sizes, 326 rape offences were recorded involving two or more offenders between 2015 and 2025.
Sexual Assault Offences by Multiple Offenders
The same FOI disclosure also covered sexual assault offences committed by multiple offenders over the same period:
Total sexual assault offences by multiple offenders (2015–2025): 315
Most commonly with two offenders (260)
Smaller numbers with three, four, five, or seven offenders.
Context and Use of the Data
This disclosure log does not provide details of individual cases, such as names, locations, or outcomes. The information is aggregated to respect privacy and data protection standards and is useful for trend analysis and public transparency on how often more than one person is involved in serious sexual offences recorded by Dorset Police.
Data Sources and Limitations
Source: Dorset Police FOI disclosure log, FOI reference 01/FIN/25/004124/U, version date 16 January 2026.
Limitation: The disclosure does not explain the context of each offence, the outcomes of investigations, or whether offences resulted in charges or convictions.
