CUMBRIA police are on track to tackle a record number of flashers and voyeurs this year, figures suggest.

Following killer cop Wayne Couzens' return to court to face charges of indecent exposure, we can reveal the scale of this type of offending across Cumbria.

Ex-Met officer Couzens is accused of carrying out a string of offences in the weeks before he murdered Sarah Everard in a case that sent shockwaves across the country.

At Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, Couzens requested, and was granted, a crown court trial by jury.

Campaigners are highlighting the need to take ‘low level’ sexual offences seriously and say there is potential for escalation if disturbing behaviour is not addressed at the earliest possible stage.

Post-pandemic rise in reports

Analysis of Home Office data shows Cumbria Constabulary dealt with more reports of voyeurism and exposure in the first six months of 2021-22 than they did during the entirety of 2020-21.

More than 500 crimes linked to voyeurism or indecent exposure have been investigated by the force since comparable records began in 2012-13.

After increasing year on year between then and 2019-20, offences fell during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

But the figures suggest officers are now dealing with a rise in such cases, with 52 reports investigated by the force during April and September last year - the most recent data.

The year before, 51 crimes were logged by the force, which says it takes such offending 'extremely seriously' and recognises the significant impact they can have on victims.

A spokesman praised the courage and strength of witnesses and victims who have helped to bring perpetrators to justice as he urged others to report their experiences.

'A radical overhaul is needed'

Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said the offences were too often accepted as a “normal part of life for women and girls” rather than recognised as connected to more widespread gender-based violence.

She said low charge rates for many sexual offences could discourage people from reporting exposure or voyeurism, offences she believes are too often trivialised, despite being 'inherently harmful' to women and girls.

In Cumbria, almost a quarter of the 59 cases that were closed by investigators in 2020-21 resulted in a charge or summons to court – a charge rate above the national average.

But 28 cases were dropped due to evidential difficulties, with police saying that the predatory nature of the offences means they are often committed without witnesses and that delays in reporting could result in difficulties obtaining forensic evidence.

In more than a dozen cases, victims withdrew their support for the investigation.

The Cumbria Police spokesman said a criminal investigation was not always the desired outcome for victims, and that the trauma of the criminal justice process could add to the significant impact of the crime.

Ms Simon, from EVAW, said: “We need a radical overhaul of the police and other criminal justice agencies’ response to violence against women, towards one that takes victims’ accounts seriously, investigates the actions of perpetrators rather than the character and behaviour of victims, and supports all survivors to access justice.”