Knife crime offences in England and Wales DOUBLE in six years to above 50k

Domestic abuse rose by 10% in a year as police across England and Wales received more than 68,000 reports in one month alone, it emerged today.   

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 842,813 domestic abuse-related offences were recorded by police forces in England and Wales in the year ending September 2020  – up from 769,611 the previous year.

This peaked in June, when police received some 68, 648 reports of domestic abuse-related crimes – up from  61, 212 in March, before the UK entered lockdown. 

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 842,813 domestic abuse-related offences were recorded by police forces in England and Wales in the year ending September 2020. This peaked in June, when police received some 68, 648 reports of domestic abuse-related crimes – up from 61, 212 in March, before the UK entered lockdown

Warnings that domestic abuse cases could spike in third lockdown

Domestic abuse cases could surge during the national lockdown as perpetrators use the restrictions to ‘create real barriers’ and increase their control over their victims, a Women’s Aid campaigner has said.

Lucy Hadley, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Women’s Aid, described how the restrictions last year had ‘stopped victims from accessing the support’ they needed and enabled abusers to isolate them.

The charity, which found 78 per cent of women had found it more difficult to leave their toxic relationships in June last year, now expects there to be a spike in victims separating from their abusers after the lockdown finally comes to an end.

Last year a report by Women’s Aid, titled A Perfect Storm, found that domestic abuse had worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic, with 91 per cent of respondents experiencing domestic abuse saying the pandemic had negatively impacted them in at least one way.

Of those women living with their abuser during lockdown, 61 per cent described how the abuse had worsened and 68 per cent said they felt they had no one to turn to during lockdown.

Lucy Hadley, head of policy and campaigns at charity Women’s Aid, today warned the impact of abuse taking place now could be felt into the ‘next decade and beyond’ because of the time it can take victims on average to build up courage to reach out for help.

She told MPs at the Commons Home Affairs Committee today: ‘Our latest data, from a sample 27,000 survivors in England, shows that the average length of abuse they experienced before accessing a domestic abuse support service was six years.’

On Tuesday, committee chairman Yvette Cooper described indications of a rise in domestic abuse reports to charities throughout the pandemic as ‘deeply troubling’ and warned this showed ‘no sign of abating’. 

Calls and contacts logged by the National Domestic Abuse Helpline increased by 34% to 114,986 between April and December, compared to 85,771 for the same period in 2019, figures provided by Ms Jacobs to the committee suggest. 

The helpline also made 3,785 referrals for emergency refuge accommodation during this time.

Meanwhile, total police recorded crime dropped by 6% to around 5.7 million offences, driven by substantial falls during April to June, particularly in theft offences, as the country spent most of the period under strict lockdown restrictions, according to the report published today.

But the results of a separate survey carried out by the ONS show the number of victims of crime in July to September 2020 returned to a similar level as in the pre-coronavirus period of January to March following a 19% drop in April to June.

The police recorded crime figures show a 7% drop in firearms offences and a 3% dip in offences involving knives and sharp instruments in the 12 months to September last year.

Total police recorded crime dropped by 6% to around 5.7 million offences, driven by substantial falls during April to June, as the country spent most of the period under strict lockdown restrictions

Total police recorded crime dropped by 6% to around 5.7 million offences, driven by substantial falls during April to June, as the country spent most of the period under strict lockdown restrictions

CALLS FOR DOMESTIC ABUSE SUPPORT WORKERS TO BE PRIORITISED FOR COVID-19 VACCINE 

Domestic abuse support workers are answering helpline calls from home while their children study to make sure victims get the help they need during the coronavirus lockdown, MPs have heard.

Domestic abuse commissioner Nicole Jacobs outlined the lengths staff were going to in order to keep support services running amid the pandemic.

Speaking to the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday, she reiterated calls for staff at refuges and community-based domestic abuse services to be prioritised for the coronavirus vaccine alongside emergency workers so services could work to full capacity.

There is no-one ‘waiting in the wings’ to take over work if staff, who have an average caseload of more than 40 people at any one time, are off sick or having to self-isolate, she warned.

Describing the current situation for domestic abuse victims as ‘extremely serious’, Ms Jacobs said there had been an increase in demand for refuge accommodation, particularly after periods of lockdown.

She told MPs the workforce was a ‘relatively small number’ but ‘pretty stretched’, adding: ‘I imagine that we could vaccinate them, at this amazing rate of vaccinations that we have, within an hour.

‘It would be so important for these services… who are under a lot of strain and… who have been working exhaustedly over the last year, to have that in place so that they can keep open as much as possible all of the services that we have and be safe about it.

‘These are people who are taking helpline calls at home when their children are trying to study in the other room.’

Ms Jacobs also called for the Government to ‘keep up the momentum’ on public awareness campaigns and revived calls for long-term sustainable funding for the sector.  

Homicides, excluding the 39 Vietnamese migrants found in a lorry in Grays, Essex, in October 2019, increased 1%, from 655 to 659.

The ONS report said a 16% increase in recorded drug offences was driven by proactive police work in crime hotspots in April to June.

Stalking and harassment was also up 15% year on year, driven by a rise of stalking offences, from 23,543 to 64,265, although a change to Home Office counting rules from April 2018 may account for some of the increase.

The number of police recorded offences increased by 20% between April to June 2020 and July to September 2020 following a 15% decrease in the previous quarter, although the 1.5 million offences in July to September was 5% lower than the 1.6 million in the same period in 2019.

According to the ONS survey, there was a 47% rise in the number of theft victims in July to September compared with April to June, up to 1.2 million – the same as before coronavirus in January to March.

The report said an annual 3% drop in knife crime was largely down to a decrease in April to June, where offences fell 22% from 12,414 to 9,669, compared with the previous quarter, before rising 25% to 12,120 in July to September – still 3% lower than the same period in 2019.

Helen Ross, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: ‘The coronavirus pandemic and related lockdown restrictions have resulted in fluctuations in the level of crime experienced in England and Wales.

‘Data from the survey showed decreases in crime at the start of the pandemic, with rises seen over the summer months, specifically in theft, following the easing of lockdown measures, with overall crime now back at pre-lockdown levels of January to March 2020.

‘There were also fluctuations in police recorded crime, but total recorded offences for July to September 2020 were below that seen in the same period in 2019.’

Children’s charity Barnardo’s warned that offences could ‘erupt’ once the latest lockdown is eased.

Chief executive Javed Khan said: ‘The coronavirus pandemic and lockdown restrictions have artificially depressed knife crime figures, which were at an all-time high before Covid-19 struck.

‘During the first lockdown from April to June last year, offences plummeted by 22%, but rose by 25% again in July to September, giving us an idea of what might erupt once restrictions are lifted and life begins to return to normal.

‘Children and young people have spent months out of school and away from their support networks, leaving many vulnerable to exploitation and control by criminal gangs who have seized on the disruption.

‘With rising unemployment and poor job prospects, some young people are finding it hard to believe in a positive future, and see no alternative but to turn to a dangerous way of making money, carrying knives to protect themselves.’

Meanwhile, separate figures released by the Home Office show the proportion of crimes in England and Wales resulting in a charge or summons was 7.3% in the 12 months to September 2020 – the same as the previous year and a slight rise on a record 12-month low of 7% in the year to March  2020.