A police force has hit back at a Reform UK Senedd Member after using “inaccurate” data to claim it was giving criminals a “free pass” and leave cases unsolved.

Citing figures from the Daily Mail, Laura Anne Jones MS said that under Gwent Police from June 2024 to May 2025, almost 86 per cent of the 44,827 crimes reported were left unsolved.

However, the force exclusively told the Abergavenny Chronicle that 58,878 crimes were reported in this period. That places the statistics leant on by Ms Jones over 14,000 incidents off the mark.

They also said the percentage of unsolved crimes cited by the MS, 85.9 per cent, is also inaccurate. In fact, 5,945 of the crimes reported to them within the time frame are under investigation and not ‘unsolved.’

The remaining 46,648, they say, cannot simply be attributed to ‘No Further Action’ and that there are varying reasons why an investigation does not result in a criminal justice outcome.

For example, data seen by the Chronicle shows that over 10,000 incidents included times where victims were either unable to, or withdrew their support, for cases whether a suspect was identified or not.

The full statement from Ms Jones saw her state that Wales is becoming lawless and called for an overhaul of the justice system.

“From farming equipment theft in Monmouthshire’s villages to mass brawls in Newport’s streets, people tell me they no longer feel safe,” she said.

“Wales is becoming lawless under Labour’s watch, and that has to change.”

“Criminals shouldn’t be getting away with nothing more than community service for serious crimes that harm peoples’ lives.”

“Reform will overhaul the justice system; recruit more police officers and create more prison spaces, to ensure crime doesn’t pay and to restore public confidence that justice will be served to those who break the law.”

While just 10.7 per cent of crimes for the period did result in a criminal justice outcome, the force said these statistics are in line with other UK forces.

Gwent Police’s Assistant Chief Constable, Vicki Townsend, defended Gwent Police’s outcome rate.

“We are committed to robustly investigating all crimes reported to us and ensuring that our response to victims remains at the heart of all we do as a police service,” she said.

“For a case to result in criminal proceedings it must pass the evidential test of a realistic prospect of a conviction and that it is in the public interest to pursue a case through the criminal courts.”

“There are many informal ways of resolving crimes reported to us, but in all cases an assessment is made of the evidence that is available, the seriousness of the crime, and the impact on the victim.”

“We are seeing an increase in our outcome rate and we are working hard to further improve this to ensure we are providing our communities with the best possible service to keep our streets as free from crime as possible and bring offenders to justice.”