England’s defeat sparks domestic violence surge

LONDON: Domestic violence cases in Britain have surged during the World Cup and England’s defeat in the semi-finals is likely to trigger another spike in beatings, a leading organisation that helps women to escape abuse said on Thursday.

The number of victims referred by police in Britain to the National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV) has risen by a fifth this month as England’s football team enjoyed their best World Cup run in 28 years before losing to Croatia on Wednesday.

The NCDV — which helps battered or threatened women obtain court orders to escape abusive partners — said it had received at least 3,500 reports of domestic violence so far in July — the links between the World Cup and domestic abuse found that violent incidents in Lancashire in northeast England increased by 38 percent when the national team lost a match, and by 26 percent when they won.

Lancaster University criminologist Dr Stuart Kirby, a former police officer, monitored police reports of domestic violence during the previous three World Cups in 2002, 2006 and 2010.

Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the football policing lead at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said there had been 103 arrests and 344 football-related incidents recorded on Wednesday night, including 57 reports of domestic abuse.

England fans were captured