Revellers more likely to be street robbery victims

The figures also show gay and lesbian people more likely to fall victim

REGULAR clubbers are up to nine times

likely to fall victim to a street robbery than someone who stays home at night. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show almost one in every 50 people (1.8%) who visited nightclubs at least four times a month before the UK went into lockdown was targeted by thieves or muggers.

That compares with just 0.8% of occasional clubbers who only visited a nightspot between one and three times a month; and just 0.2% of people who shy away from the club scene altogether.

People who visit bars regularly were also less likely than clubbers to be robbed, although they were still more likely to be targeted than those who didn’t go to bars at all.

Only 0.5% of people who visited a bar in the evening more than four times a month in the year up to the end of March were robbed.

That compares to 0.3% who visited a bar between one and three times a month, and 0.2% of people who didn’t visit a bar at all.

Crime prevention charity Crimestoppers offers a range of advice to help people to stay safe.

That includes avoiding listening to music while walking home alone at night and keeping to well lit, busy areas.

The charity also recommends keeping bags fastened and out of view, and only taking what is necessary on a night out.

It advises people to make sure no-one is loitering near a cash machine and to walk away after withdrawing cash, only counting money when it is safe to do so.

The data, which has been revealed by the Crime Survey for England and Wales, also shows that gay and lesbian people are four times more likely to be targeted than straight people.

These figures ask about people’s experience of crime, and are seen as a better measure of overall crime levels than police figures, as these only show how many offences are being dealt with by police.

According to the survey, just over one out of every 100 gay or lesbian people suffered a street robbery last year (1.1%), while only 0.3% of the overall straight population fell victim.

Eloise Stonborough, head of policy and research at LGBT charity Stonewall, said: “It’s upsetting to hear that LGBT people are at higher risk of being the victim of street robberies.

“Our research shows less than three in ten LGBT people (29 per cent) avoid certain streets altogether because they don’t feel safe there.

“This needs to change, so we all need to work together to create a world where LGBT people are accepted without exception.”

The figures also show that the unemployed are twice as likely to be robbed as working people.

Meanwhile students were five times more likely to be victims than pensioners.