Fatal stabbings at highest level since records began
The number of fatal stabbings in England and Wales has hit the highest level since records began more than 70 years ago, an official report has revealed.
There were 285 homicides where the method of killing was by a knife or sharp instrument in the year to March 2018, an increase of 73 compared with 2016/17, and the highest number since the Home Office’s Homicide Index began in 1946, the Office for National Statistics said.
The rises are most pronounced for male victims aged 16 to 24 and 25 to 34, while nearly a quarter were black - the highest number and proportion of black victims since this data was first collected in 1997.
The report shows that female victims are most likely to be killed in their home.
Key findings from the study
Just over half (51%) of all homicide cases resulted from a quarrel, revenge attack or a loss of temper
Female victims were most likely to be killed in or around a house, dwelling or residential home
Around a third (32%) of male homicides took place in a street, path or alleyway
In the three years to March 2018, a third (32%) of homicide suspects were reported by the police to have been under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs at the time of the incident
Around a quarter (24%) of homicide victims were known to be drug users, and one in nine (11%) were known to be drug dealers
There were 12 offences of homicide per million population – a rate which remains “relatively low”.
The report said: “There are likely to be important socio-economic factors in homicides that cannot be examined using Homicide Index data. There is evidence from other studies that suggests that ethnicity is just one of many factors in homicides and violent incidents in general.”
Ministers and police have come under sustained pressure to get a grip on serious violence.
Policing Minister Nick Hurd said: “Since March we have taken urgent and unprecedented action which is having an impact and knife crime is stabilising in London and slowing in the rest of the country.
“We recognise that young people are most at risk of falling victim to knife crime and our serious violence strategy sets out a multi-agency approach, which includes a greater focus on early intervention.”
A proposed new funding settlement will deliver up to £970 million of additional public investment into policing in 2019/20, helping police continue to recruit more officers, Mr Hurd added.
Last week Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced plans for new knife crime prevention orders that could be imposed on suspects aged 12 or over.
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Diana Fawcett, chief officer at charity Victim Support, said: “We’re now witnessing the highest ever number of knife-related deaths and it’s deeply troubling that these rises are being driven by a huge increase in the number of young people whose lives are being lost to this epidemic.
“These figures further highlight the need for all agencies to come together to tackle this increasing crisis which is destroying lives and shattering communities.”
Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Commons Home Affairs committee, described the findings as “shocking and deeply concerning”, and called on the Home Office to show “proper leadership on policing”.
Homicide covers the offences of murder, manslaughter and infanticide.
In total, forces in England and Wales recorded 726 homicides in the 12 months to March last year, 20 more than in the previous year.
Recent trends are affected by the recording of “exceptional incidents” with multiple victims, such as the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester in 2017, and the 96 deaths at Hillsborough in 1989, which were recorded as manslaughters in 2016/17.
If these are excluded, then the number of homicides increased by 89, or 15%, from 606 to 695.