Yahoo News Britain's murder rate at highest level in a decade, official figures show
Violent crime has risen by 19% in England and Wales in the past year, official figures reveal.
The number of murders and manslaughters rose to 739 from 649, in the year up to September 2018, Office for National Statistics data reveals.
That is the highest total in a decade and excludes terrorism offences.
Robberies also increased by 17%.
Overall crimes recorded by police went up by 7% in that period, with a total of 5,723,182 offences.
In addition, stalking and harassment offences increased by 41%.
At the same time the NHS released figures which revealed a 15% rise in admission to hospitals for ‘assaults involving a sharp instrument’.
“In recent decades we’ve seen the overall level of crime falling, but in the last year, it remained level,” said Helen Ross from the ONS.
“There are variations within this overall figure, depending on the type of crime. Burglary, shoplifting and computer misuse are decreasing but others, such as vehicle offences and robbery, are rising.
“We have also seen increases in some types of “lower-volume, high-harm” violence including offences involving knives or sharp instruments.”
Greater Manchester police has been found to have undercounted the amount of knife crime in its review of figures.
Knife crime offences are mostly concentrated in London.
The figures showed that 35% of all knife crime was in London, more than double its rate for overall crime of 16%.
The Metropolitan Police saw 168 offences per 100,000 people in 2018.
There have been several notable incidents already this year, including the death of 14-year-old Jaden Moodie, security guard Tudor Simionov and Lee Pomeroy who was with his son on a train when he was attacked.
David Jamieson, the crime commissioner for the West Midlands, where recorded crime increased by 10%, said the latest figures revealed the need for increased resources for police forces.
“West Midlands police has faced £175m in central government cuts since 2010,” he said.
“Despite being recognised by independent inspectors as a highly efficient force, we have lost over 2,000 officers since 2010, meaning we are having to do more with less.”
Alex Mayes, policy and public affairs adviser at charity Victim Support, said: “These figures starkly highlight the devastating human cost of the recent rises in serious violence that we’ve seen across the country.”
