A RECORD number of stalking prosecutions were made in South Yorkshire last year.

The most recent figures from the Ministry of Justice show 109 stalking crimes – including breaches of stalking orders and racially or religiously motivated stalking – were prosecuted against in South Yorkshire.

It was an increase from 87 prosecutions the year before, and the highest since records began in 2010.

Of the prosecutions in South Yorkshire, 78 resulted in a sentence, including 22 custodial sentences.

The average custodial sentence length was 12 months.

Separately, South Yorkshire Police recorded 19,400 stalking and harassment crimes in the year to March – down from 20,500 the year before.