1 Trends in serious violent crime
1. Between 2002-03 and 2006-07, the number of
crimes reported in the British Crime Survey fell by 8.5%, and
violent crime fell by 9.0%. This was in line with the decline
in levels of all crime. Over the same period, however, serious
violent incidents only fell by 5.9%.[2]
2. In recent years, the Home Office (the Department)
has grown increasingly concerned about the more widespread availability
of firearms. The number of recorded crimes involving a firearm
doubled between 1998-99 and 2005-06 (Figure 1). In the
year ending December 2007, there were 9,967 recorded crimes involving
a firearm in England and Wales. The most commonly used firearm
was the handgun, used in 4,163 incidents, followed by imitation
weapons, which were used in 2,663 incidents. The Department introduced
legislation, including the Violent Crime Reduction Act, which
tackled the supply of firearms.[3]
Figure 1: Recorded crime involving firearms other than air weapons 1998-99
and 2006-07
Source: Homicides, Firearms and Intimate Violence
2005-06, Table 2.03, Home Office, January 2008
3. The number of 15-17 year olds convicted of
'having a blade or a point in a public place' also doubled between
1998-99 and 2005-06. Research conducted on behalf of the Youth
Justice Board in 2004 found that 30% of young people excluded
from education reported that they had carried a knife in the previous
year. The Department had encouraged the passing of longer sentences
which are now available for possession of knives,[4]
but was increasingly concerned about knife carrying in public.
4. The Department acknowledged the difficulties
of communicating the trends in violent crime to the public through
the media. Isolated cases of extreme violence tended to dominate
media coverage, and this made it hard for the public to accept
that violent crime had fallen. Overall, violence had fallen, and
England and Wales had a low homicide rate in comparison with other
countries. The current homicide rate for England and Wales was
1.4 per 100,000 of population. Although fear of crime had fallen
since 2006, 15% of people interviewed in the British Crime Survey
in 2007 reported that they were very worried about the risk of
being a victim of violent crime.[5]
5. International research suggested that the
majority of violent offenders were male and between the ages of
16 and 29. Nevertheless, in England and Wales in 2006-07, more
than 56,000 violent offences were committed by 10-17 year olds.
More than 70% of these offences were committed by males, although
the number of offences committed by females increased by 25% in
this period. Those aged 16-25 were most likely to be serious offenders
if they were from low income families. 85% of the violent offences
committed by 10-17 year olds in 2006-07 were committed by members
of the white ethnic group, 6% by young black people, and 3% each
by those from the Asian and mixed race ethnic groups.[6]
2 Qq 1, 11-14, 87 Back
3
Ev 26 Back
4
Qq 1-3, 17, 23-24, 34, 133-135, 148, 151 Back
5
Qq 42, 87-89, 118-120 Back
6
Ev 24 Back
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