Surge in crime post lockdown

Victim-based crime soared last summer as the first round of coronavirus restrictions were eased

VIOLENT and victim-based crimes surged as the UK came out of lockdown last summer. Government figures show the total number of victim-based offences - which include violence against a person, sexual offences, robbery, theft and criminal damage - shot up by 25 per cent between July and September, compared to the previous three months.

Between April and June, when people were told to “stay home” to “protect the NHS” under the restrictions of the first lockdown, there were a total of 848,308 victim-based offences.

As restrictions were eased, the number soared to over a million offences.

While there was a 13 per cent drop in the most serious violent crime of murder - down from 167 cases during the first lockdown to 146 between July and September - overall crimes of violence against a person rose by 19 per cent.

That includes a 35 per cent spike in death or serious injury caused by driving, a 28 per cent rise in violence with injury, and a 15 per cent increase in crimes of stalking and harassment.

Sexual offences rose by almost a third (29 per cent), including a 29 per cent rise in rape.

There were 15,297 rape offences committed between July and September - up from 11,831 during the lockdown.

Meanwhile, almost 6,000 more people were robbed after lockdown restrictions were eased.

The number of crimes of robbery against a person soared from 10,618 to 16,633, a 57 per cent spike; and robberies against businesses also rose by 18 per cent.

The figures also show there were over 10,000 more burglaries carried out between July and September than during lockdown one, a 16 per cent increase.

After all non-essential shops were allowed to reopen in June, shoplifting soared by 47 per cent, from 45,122 between April and June, up to 66,223 crimes from July to September.

Overall, theft - including of cars and bikes - rose by a third (33 per cent); while there was a 25 per cent increase in criminal damage.

August saw the highest number of victim-based crimes. There were 359,031 of these offences committed that month, compared to 355,010 in July and 349,041 in September.

The lowest number of offences, 253,189, were committed in May, as people were still adjusting to life under lockdown.

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently admitted he was worried about crime, “rebounding as we come out of lockdown”.

However, despite the spike in victim-based offences that was seen after lockdown restrictions were eased, crime remains below what it was before the pandemic.

Figures show that crimes that had an obvious victim actually fell by eight per cent between July and September last year when compared to the same period in 2019, with 93,177 fewer crimes committed.

A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) said: "After the easing of Covid restrictions in July 2020 crime levels broadly returned to pre-lockdown levels across England and Wales.

“Throughout, officers have been busy tackling and preventing crime, and providing a policing service to their communities, while continuing to play their part in the national effort to limit the spread of coronavirus.”

Police have continued to focus on protecting victims of domestic abuse from harm and working with partners to make sure victims get the support they need, the NPCC said, adding, “that has not changed due to the Covid restrictions”.