Over one sexual assault recorded every day in one part of Merseyside

On average, more than one sexual offence is recorded every day in one part of Merseyside with many of these associated with the nightime economy - and that's despite a drop in figures.

Knowsley Community Safety Partnership met for a council meeting at Huyton's municipal building on Tuesday, September 24 and reviewed a report on the Strategic Threat Assessment in the borough against national crime statistics. The council were shown a breakdown of offences recorded for the last year including the areas crime had been reduced as well as the offences which have increased.

Intelligence and Insight Manager at Knowsley Council, Gemma Melia, gave a presentation on last year's crime figures both nationally and within Knowsley. The council heard there had been an overall reduction in crime across the borough, but had seen a rise in offences relating to violence with injury, non-residential burglary and death/serious injury by illegal driving.

READ MORE: Man posted 'violent and sadistic' monkey torture videos on Facebook

READ MORE: Off-duty paramedic shares how tragedy unfolded as dad died on Jet2 flight

Reports of hate crimes have also increased with the around Whiston hospital being cited as a hotspot for this type of offence. The concentrated levels of hate crime in this location were thought to be down to improved reporting by trained staff.

Knowsley is responsible for only 10% of all crime in Merseyside and has seen a 14% reduction in crime overall across the borough. However, council officials identified the statistics around sexual offences and violence against woman and girls as a cause of acute concern.

Nationally, all victim based crime has decreased over the last ten years, apart from sexual assault which has increased, due to improvements in police recording, according to the report. However, Knowsley saw a 5% decrease in sexual offences for 2023/24 down from 423 to 400. Nonetheless, the figures both nationally (3% increase) and regionally are of significant concern for police and local authority officials.

The figures in relation to the number of sexual offences were presented in the section of the report which monitors violence against women and girls, Ms Melia added: "This can be difficult to report on as it's not one single crime, but it tends to be a number of different crimes that affect women."

She added: "In recent years we have seen improved reporting and recording in these crimes. We can see that Knowsley's rates are similar to Merseyside for stalking and harassment and sexual offences and are slightly lower than Liverpool and St Helens. We think that many of these crimes can be related to the nighttime economy."

In terms of domestic abuse in Knowsley, there has been a decrease in reported domestic abuse crimes throughout 2023/24. This follows the national pattern of a decrease in domestic abuse reporting. However, referrals into domestic abuse services shows that there is an increase in higher harm and domestic abuse from child to parent.

"I want to assure the community that work is ongoing to prevent sexual offences in Merseyside."

Analysis of violence against women and girls showed referrals to Safer Communities Service Professional pathway increased in 2023/24 and a third of referrals were high risk. Knowsley Council have committed themselves to ongoing work focused on alleviating these issues which includes long term investment in domestic abuse services and prevention work.

Merseyside Police were also quick to offer assurances that sexual offences and violence against women and girls is a top priority for them, Detective Chief Inspector Ben Dyer said: “It’s clear from the report that sexual offences are reducing in Knowsley, but we remain determined to drive down this number this even further.

“Although these latest statistics are encouraging and show that we've made progress, there’s still much more we can do.

“The victims of these crimes are also not considered a statistic. Behind every number is a real person, male and female, who have suffered and I want to assure the community that work is ongoing to prevent sexual offences in Merseyside."

For more information on what we're doing to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls please visit www.merseyside.police.uk/vawg

Further information on the local and national support available can be found here: Support for rape and sexual assault | Merseyside Police