Figures reveal surge in violent crime inWales
VIOLENT crime in Wales has rocketed 22% despite overall figures for England and Wales being at their lowest since 1981.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics’ Crime Survey show that Wales’ four police forces recorded 52,076 violent crimes, of which 23,001 left victims injured.
The was also a 20% increase in sex offences and a 5% increase in theft in Wales compared with the previous 12 months.
On a UK-wide level, a “worrying” one in 10 people fell victim to cyber crime or fraud.
It is the first time fraud questions have been added to the official crime survey for Wales and England. It found that people are 20 times more likely to be a victim of fraud than robbery, and 10 times more likely to suffer fraud than theft, the survey suggests.
John Flatley of the ONS said: “Together, these offences are similar in magnitude to the existing headline figures covering all other crime survey offences.
“However, it would be wrong to conclude that actual crime levels have doubled, since the survey previously did not cover these offences.”
Compared with other types of crime, the likelihood of being a victim of fraud is relatively evenly distributed across different groups in society, said Mark Bangs, deputy head of crime statistics at the ONS.
He added: “For example, those living in rural areas were just as likely to be a victim of fraud as those living in urban areas. Similarly, people living in the most deprived areas were no more likely to be victims than those in the least deprived areas.”
According to the figures, South Wales saw the most criminal offences at 91,362, an increase of 2%.
Gwent saw a rise of 3% to 37,742, North Wales saw a 6% rise to 38,663 and Dyfed-Powys had the lowest number of crimes (21,332) but the largest rise at 12%.
Gwent Chief Constable Jeff Farrar, leads on crime recording for the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
He said it was “encouraging” to see recorded crime fall and police recording methods “becoming more accurate.”
He said in Wales and England there were an “estimated 3.8 million fraud and two million computer misuse offences”. These figures have not been broken down locally.
“The significant increase in harassment offences, including revenge porn, and continuing rises in recorded sexual offences and domestic abuse recorded exemplify the changing and increasing demands on policing,” Chief Constable Farrar said.
“We’re working with police and crime commissioners and leaders from across policing on a programme of reform that will develop new tactics and capabilities to meet these threats and keep people safe.”
The NSPCC said it was worried about the 20% rise in sex offences in Wales.
An NSPCC Cymru spokesman said: “These are grim figures which show that the number of sex offences has risen by a fifth in Wales in the last year. We know that in many of these cases the victims will have been children.
“Sexual abuse has a devastating impact on a child, and we urge all victims to come forward as soon as possible so they can get the support they need and offenders can be brought to justice.”