Murder rate in North Yorkshire remains low

However, physical attacks on police officers rise once again

in England and Wales was up by 8% on the previous 12 months.

The area covered by North Yorkshire force had a homicide rate of 7.4 per million people, which is below the average for England and Wales.

The rate for South Yorkshire Police was far higher than any other area in this period due to the Hillsborough deaths.

After South Yorkshire, the highest rate was 19.1 per million people in Greater Manchester.

The lowest was 3.4 per million in Gwent.

The average rate for England and Wales if the Hillsborough deaths are excluded is 10.5 per million people. The rate has increased over the latest two periods but is still 20% lower than it was 10 years ago.

However, in 1967 the rate was 7.3 per million.

The figures come from a Home Office database called the Homicide Index.

Analysis of the latest figures by the Office for National Statistics shows that 71% of victims were men and 29% women.

This is a consistent pattern over many years.

Half of the female victims were killed by a partner or expartner.

Men are most likely to be killed by a friend or acquaintance.

Child victims, under the age of 16, were most likely to be killed by a parent or step parent.

Most people are killed while in or around a house, according to the ONS.

This is particularly true for women, while one fifth of male homicides happen on the street.

The most common weapon used was a knife or sharp object.

• This week it was also revealed that assaults on police officers have risen in the last year.

Nearly 200 assaults were recorded in North Yorkshire.

Deputy Chief Constable Lisa Winward, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “As a service, we offer our colleagues wellbeing support if they are assaulted at work and we do everything we can to prevent them coming to harm.

“That includes always endeavouring to deal with offenders to the full extent of the law and working in partnership with other agencies to reduce violent behaviour in our society.”

The figures are revealed as part of an investigation ahead of the third reading of the Assaults on Emergency Workers Bill, which proposes harsher punishments on those who attack emergency staff.

Over the last two years, forces in West, South and North Yorkshire, plus Humberside Police, recorded 2,471 incidents of physical and verbal abuse against police staff – 603 in 2016 and 1,868 in 2017.