Gun crimes at five-year low as national trend is bucked

GUN crime has reached its lowest level in five years in the Greater Manchester - bucking a national trend.

Police recorded 424 offences involving firearms in 2018/19 – the lowest figure since 2013/14, when there were 397 crimes.

It marks a fall of more than a fifth (22 per cent) compared to 541 gun crimes in 2017/18.

Greater Manchester had the fourth-most gun crimes in England and Wales after London, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire.

Among those killed in 2018/19 was father-of-two 31 year old Luke Graham.

He was shot dead on a residential street in Ashtonunder-Lyne in broad daylight as children played nearby in June 2018.

Of the gun crimes last year, 99 involved the firing of so-called ‘lethal-barrelled’ guns.

They include weapons such as handguns, shotguns and rifles, but don’t include imitation weapons, ball bearing guns and sprays such as CS gas.

The police force figures – published by the Office for National Statistics – exclude air weapons, which means the real total is likely to be far higher. Nationally, air weapons made up 31pc of all gun crimes last year. In recent years, the number of firearm offences has risen, following a long-term fall. Across the country, there were almost 10,000 crimes that involved guns in 2018/19.

The 9,787 total offences marked a 4pc increase on the year before – and a rise of 27pc in five years.

However, it is still far lower than the 24,094 offences recorded in 2003/04. In more than half of cases (51pc) the weapon was fired, while in the rest it was used as a threat.

People were most likely to use a gun to commit violence against the person, followed by criminal damage and robbery.

People were shot dead 33 times over the year in England and Wales – three more than in 2017/18.

424 Recorded firearms offences in Greater Manchester in 2018/19