Increase in sex offences as crime figures fall

More sexual offences were recorded in Northumberland over the last year, despite an overall drop in recorded crime.
Crime figures.Crime figures.
Crime figures.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) data shows Northumbria Police recorded 885 incidents of sexual offences in the county in the 12 months to September – an increase of 21% compared to the previous year.

The rate of 2.7 crimes per 1,000 people, was below the level in England and Wales, which stood at 2.9.

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The total number of offences in the area fell by six per cent, with police recording 21,907 crimes over the course of the year.

This puts the overall crime rate for the area at 67.7 per 1,000 people – compared to a national average of 82.4.

Other crimes recorded in Northumberland included:

*8,815 violent offences, up three per cent.

*4,553 thefts, down 26%.

*3,315 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down one per cent.

*144 possession of weapons, down 12%.

*2,922 public order offences, down nine per cent.

Nationally around 5.8 million offences were recorded in England and Wales in the year to September.

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This represents a two per cent rise compared to the previous year – though there was a one per cent drop to 4.9 million offences when cases of fraud and computer misuse were excluded from the figures.

Police forces across the two nations logged 63,100 rapes – up 13% from the previous year.

The ONS said the latest figures may reflect several factors, including the “impact of high-profile incidents and campaigns on people’s willingness to report incidents to the police”.