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Crime in England and Wales 2002/2003: Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide and Gun Crime

NCJ Number
205288
Editor(s)
David Povey
Date Published
January 2004
Length
55 pages
Annotation
This document discusses homicide and crimes involving firearms in England and Wales.
Abstract
The information was provided by the police on every case initially recorded as a homicide in England and Wales. It includes information about the victim, any suspect(s), and the outcome of any prosecution. There were 1,045 deaths initially recorded as homicides based on cases recorded by the police in 2002/03. The most common method of killing at 27 percent involved sharp instrument. Firearms were used in 8 percent of homicides. Thirty-seven percent of male victims and 45 percent of female victims knew the main suspect. Overall the risk of being a victim of homicide was 19 per million population. Children under 1 year old were most at risk at 58 per million population. Reports on crime recorded by the police that have involved the use of a firearm, whether through being fired, used as blunt instrument, or as a threat are as follows. Firearms other than air weapons were reported to have been used in 10,248 recorded crimes. This was a 2 percent increase over the previous year, following a much larger increase of 34 percent in the previous year. Air weapons were reported to have been used in 13,822 recorded crimes, a rise of 12 percent compared with 2001/02. This rise may have been inflated by the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. Weapons were fired in 28 percent of firearm crimes (excluding those involving air weapons). In most non-air-weapon offenses, the weapon was used as a threat and was neither fired nor used as a blunt instrument. Handguns were fired in 11 percent of the offenses where they were involved. About 2 percent of firearm crime resulted in a serious injury. There were 572 serious injuries resulting from crimes that involved firearms (including air weapons), up 3 percent from 2001/02. 30 tables, 20 figures