Violent crime in Britain soars to highest level in a decade

Violent crime in the UK has soared to its highest level in a decade, according to new statistics, with ‘pent up rage’ from lockdown blamed for the rise.

TWO thirds of police forces in England and Wales have seen a rise in hate crime, drug rivalries and domestic abuse, with violent crime up 39 per cent in July, compared to 2019, in Gloucestershire.

According to UKCrimeStatistics.com, there was a 15.8 per cent rise in violent crime in England and Wales between July and June of this year, as incidents jumped from 147,857 incidents of violence to 163,624.

Police figures, analysed by The Times, shows violent crime was higher last month than in the same period last year in 31 of the 39 police forces which published their data.

The data comes after it was revealed violent incidents had returned to pre-coronavirus levels in August, with officials fearing a rise as lockdown restrictions are loosened further.

Behind Gloucestershire is Durham, which has seen a 35 per cent hike in these sort of offences.

The West Midlands has experienced a 27 per cent increase in July, compared to 2019, with 10,849 offences recorded.

Crime commissioner David Jamieson told the publication crime had ‘bounced back’ after lockdown, and said the rise resulted from the ‘unlocking of a lot of pent-up frustrations’ built up during confinement.

He went on to say that the pandemic and restrictions had had an impact on the drugs market, leading to a ‘sudden explosion’ of violent activity has gangs fought over their patches.

In London there were 17 killings in July, two more than the same month last year, and 11 more than in February of this year. There were 19,104 violent crimes in June.

Speaking to The Guardian, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, said he is worried that “the last decade of government austerity, where ministers decimated police and youth services – causing violent crime to rise in London and across the UK” could be repeated.

There have been two fatal stabbings in London – an 18 and a 20-year-old in separate incidents – in the capital this week.

With regards to domestic violence, Assistant Director of Victim Support, Rachel Almeida, said incident had been ‘more intense, of high severity, and more frequent’ during lockdown.

She said that during the period of confinement, abusers ‘increased their control and violence, and victims were unable to get away.’

“While some crimes such as burglary and theft reduced during lockdown due to the restrictions, people contacting us for help as a result of other crimes such as domestic abuse, sexual violence, hate crime, fraud and anti-social behaviour increased as lockdown eased,” revealed Victim Support.

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