Met Police Chief Claims More People Pleading Not Guilty Over Court Delays

Then head of counter-terrorism policing Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley outside New Scotland Yard, central London, in an undated file photo. Kirsty O’Connor/PA

The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, has said there has been a big increase in the number of people pleading not guilty to criminal offences, and he has said the barristers’ strike was partly to blame.

At a briefing with journalists on Tuesday, Rowley said the number of people pleading not guilty had shot up from 20 percent to 80 percent and he said the trend was causing great pain to victims, especially to those who have reported rape and sexual assault.