FOI 1137-2025/26- Malicious Communication arrests
Request:
Q1. The number of arrests you made in 2023 under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988.
Q2. For the above, please provide a breakdown of the reason for arrest, e.g. social media post, hoax call, email, letter, etc.
Response:
Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police.
I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.
Q1 & Q2. Please see the table below showing the number of arrests under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 between 01 January and 31 December 2023, broken down by arrest reason.
|
Arrest Reason |
Total |
|
Cause to be sent by public communication network a false message to cause annoyance / inconvenience / anxiety (recordable) |
2 |
|
Cause to be sent by public communication network an offensive / indecent / obscene / menacing message / matter (recordable) |
5 |
|
Persistently make use of public communication network to cause annoyance / inconvenience / anxiety (recordable) |
15 |
|
Send by public communication network an offensive / indecent / obscene / menacing message / matter (recordable) |
161 |
|
Send communication / article of an indecent / offensive nature (recordable) |
5 |
|
Send false message by public electronic communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety (recordable) |
5 |
|
Send letter / communication / article conveying a threatening message (recordable) |
12 |
|
Send letter / communication / article conveying indecent / offensive message (recordable) |
3 |
|
Total |
208 |
Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.