STABBING IS NO.1 KILLER
An Irish study has surprising findings on the level of force used in fatal stab wounds which may have implications for sentencing in criminal cases, writes ‘Most frequent means of homicide’ Males are common knife attack victims
Astudy of fatal stab wounds to the torso in Ireland has found most victims are male – and the weapon used is commonly a kitchen or steak knife.
Fatal knife injuries are common in Ireland and other countries such as Australia and the UK, where access to firearms is restricted.
Stabbing attacks are the “most frequent means of committing homicide in Ireland”, according to the research by the office of the State Pathologist.
Analysis of 104 case files on torso injuries from 2011 to 2018 found the vast majority were caused by a knife, most commonly a kitchen or steak knife.
Occasionally paring, boning and pen knives were used, a team of researchers headed by Dr Eithne Bourke found.
One case involved the use of garden shears, another involved the use of scissors, and there was one case involving a sword.
The study found: “Stabbing attacks are commonly encountered in physical disputes and are the most frequent means of committing homicide in Ireland.”
Of the cases examined 84% of victims were male, with seven of them under the age of 18.
More than two-thirds of those with torso stab injuries (69%) had rib injuries putting organs at increased risk – a much higher figure than previously reported.
Pathologists are often called to give court evidence regarding fatal stab wounds, with the degree of force used a critical question.
“The prosecution often hopes that the pathologist will tell the court that the wound pattern suggests a forceful, violent attack, whereas the defence may seek to rely on the fact that mild, or even accidental force may have caused the offending injury,” the study authors said.
“The amount of force needed to cause a rib fracture can be difficult to quantify... from the high percentage of rib fractures sustained in our data it appears that the ribs may be fractured regardless of the amount of force used.”
The wound may have been self inflicted in 10% of cases, the research team concluded, but there were no recorded cases of accidental stabbing.
In 50% of cases, the victim sustained a single stab wound to the torso, 21% of cases involved two stab wounds while the remaining 28% of cases sustained three wounds or more.
The majority of wounds were inflicted on the left side of the victims as most assailants are right-handed. Researchers said 237 different wounds were sustained across the 104 case reports.
In 97% of cases the stab wounds caused internal injuries with “stab wounds” stated as the cause of death in the majority of cases. The number of knives seized by gardai has steadily increased since 2016, with a 4.7% increase in the number of knives seized between 2019 and 2020.
“While knives are the most common weapons used to inflict a stab wound, it is important to note that any instrument with a point or tip, even those which are relatively blunt, can cause a stab wound.”
In a statement, the Department of Justice said a knife crime subcommittee of the Anti-social Behaviour Forum last met on December 19.
It said: “Proposals such as increasing the penalties for more serious knife crime offences... were discussed. Complementary initiatives include increased support for diversion for young offenders through Youth Diversion Projects.
“This group has noted that knife crime does not simply derive from street violence, or from young offenders, and is also prevalent in domestic, sexual and gender-based violence situations.”
Last year, up until December 6, there were 2031 knives sized by the Gardai while there were 2,162 knives seized during the entire year of 2022.