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Crime rises by half a million reported offences in England and Wales over last year, official figures show | Crime rises by half a million reported offences in England and Wales over last year, official figures show |
(35 minutes later) | |
Crime recorded by police in England and Wales has risen by 13 per cent to 5.2 million offences in the past year, new figures show. | |
The increase - 583,782 offences in real terms - has mainly been driven by a 19 per cent jump in violent crime. | |
The Office for National Statistics said the rise represented both a genuine increase in some offences and improvements to the way they are recorded by police. | The Office for National Statistics said the rise represented both a genuine increase in some offences and improvements to the way they are recorded by police. |
John Flatley, head of crime statistics the ONS, said: “Today's figures suggest that the police are dealing with a growing volume of crime. | |
“While improvements made by police forces in recording crime are still a factor in the increase, we judge that there have been genuine increases in crime – particularly in some of the low incidence but more harmful categories.” | “While improvements made by police forces in recording crime are still a factor in the increase, we judge that there have been genuine increases in crime – particularly in some of the low incidence but more harmful categories.” |
Mr Flatley added that separate figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which is considered a better indicator of long-term trends because it also records unreported offences, has shown an overall decline in crime. | |
More than 600 homicides were reported – a 2 per cent fall on the previous year – but the ONS said the statistic had been affected by incidents with multiple victims. | |
Among them were the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster – which saw manslaughter charges brought for the first time this year – and terror attack. | |
When Hillsborough and the atrocities in Westminster, Manchester, London Bridge and Finsbury Park are excluded, the homicide tally went up by 46, following a “general upward trend” seen in recent years.# | |
There was also a substantial increase of 59 per cent in the number of attempted murder offences, largely due to 294 offences recorded in terror attacks. | |
More than 1.2 million “violence against the person” offences were recorded, up a fifth on the previous year. | More than 1.2 million “violence against the person” offences were recorded, up a fifth on the previous year. |
The ONS said the biggest increases were seen in stalking and violence without injury, adding: “Most of this volume increase was thought to result from improved recording practices but it is likely that rises in the most serious categories reflect genuine rises in violent crime.” | |
Knife crime has risen by more than a quarter to the highest level in six years, the figures revealed in a week that has seen three people stabbed to death in London in little over 24 hours. | Knife crime has risen by more than a quarter to the highest level in six years, the figures revealed in a week that has seen three people stabbed to death in London in little over 24 hours. |
Out of 44 forces, 38 experienced a rise but the Metropolitan Police saw the largest jump, accounting for almost half the increase across England and Wales. | |
“While some of the rise in offences involving knives may reflect improvements in recording practices, it is thought that the main driver has been a genuine rise in knife crime in areas such as London,” a spokesperson for the ONS said. | |
“It is also possible that more targeted police action to tackle knife crime may have led to more offences coming to the attention of the police than might otherwise have done so.” | |
Police recorded almost 37,000 attacks involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year to June, mostly assault, murder and robbery, which made up more than a third of all knife crime. | |
There was an increase of 19 per cent in the number of sexual offences recorded by the police, which rose to 129,700 offences. | |
Rape increased by almost a quarter to 45,100 offence, while other sexual offences increased by 17% to 84,600 and those against children contributed over one third to the total increase. | |
A quarter of all sexual offences recorded by police last year were “non-recent”, meaning they took place more than 12 months before being reported. | |
A spokesperson for the ONS said there was an “increased willingness of victims to come forward” to the police following high-profile media coverage of operations including Operation Yewtree – into abuse by Jimmy Savile and others – and allegations by former footballers. | |
Theft has also increased by 11 per cent, including burglary, stealing vehicles and shoplifting, with the largest rise seen in bicycle theft. | |
The ONS attributed the change to more victims coming forward to police and forces improving recording practices, following a 2014 inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary that “identified significant under-recording” of the crimes. | The ONS attributed the change to more victims coming forward to police and forces improving recording practices, following a 2014 inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary that “identified significant under-recording” of the crimes. |
Figures also revealed that there were 711 deaths or serious injuries caused by illegal driving and a rise in bank and credit card fraud. | Figures also revealed that there were 711 deaths or serious injuries caused by illegal driving and a rise in bank and credit card fraud. |
They were released after separate statistics from the Home Office showed unprecedented spikes in hate crime in the wake of the EU referendum and terror attacks in the UK. | |
Data from police forces across England and Wales showed there were almost 80,400 hate crimes recorded in 2016/17 - a 29 per cent rise from the previous year and the largest annual increase since records began. |