Police-recorded shoplifting offences in England and Wales soar 32%

On Jan 25, 2024

By Rory Tingle, Home Affairs Correspondent For Mailonline

Published: 11:13, 25 January 2024 | Updated: 15:20, 25 January 2024

Shoplifting offences have surged to the best degree in 20 years, surpassing figures seen earlier than Covid for the primary time.

Some 402,482 offences have been recorded by police in England and Wales within the 12 months to September 2023, up almost a 3rd (32%) on 304,459 within the earlier 12 months, knowledge revealed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) right this moment reveals.

It is the primary time since present data started in 2002/03 that the quantity recorded by police has risen increased than 400,000 and is above pre-pandemic ranges.

The earlier peak of 382,643 was recorded within the 12 months to March 2018.

Knife crime offences: What the newest figures present

Some 48,716 offences have been recorded within the 12 months to September 2023. This is up 5% from 46,367 within the earlier 12 months, however is 5% decrease than the 51,228 within the 12 months to March 2020.

These figures don’t embody Devon & Cornwall and Greater Manchester Police, resulting from points involving the provision of information.

There has been a ‘notable improve’ within the variety of robberies involving a knife or sharp instrument, in keeping with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which compiled the figures. These jumped from 16,746 within the 12 months to September 2022 to twenty,000 within the 12 months to September 2023, an increase of 19% – although the overall remains to be beneath pre-pandemic ranges.

Knife-enabled homicides stood at 240 within the 12 months to September 2023, broadly unchanged on the 241 recorded within the earlier 12 months and likewise decrease than pre-pandemic figures.

Some 5,459 offences classed as knife-enabled threats to kill have been recorded within the newest 12-month interval, down barely (by 3%) from 5,641 within the earlier 12 months, however in each circumstances these figures are increased than these recorded earlier than the pandemic.

The variety of offences classed as ‘possession of article with a blade or level’ stood at 27,846 within the 12 months to September 2023, up 4% from 26,903 within the earlier 12 months. This pattern may have been influenced by focused police motion to deal with knife crime,’ the ONS mentioned.

Catherine Grant, from the ONS, mentioned there was a ‘combined image of crime‘ however police recorded crime is exhibiting ‘notable will increase in some theft offences, together with shoplifting’ in addition to an increase in thefts of motor automobiles.

It comes after main retailers raised issues concerning the rising value of theft.

The total variety of crimes recorded by police in England and Wales within the 12 months to September 2023 stood at 6.7 million, up barely (1%) from 6.6 million within the earlier 12 months and better than 6.1 million within the pre-pandemic 12 months of 2019/20.

Improvement within the recording of offences by police, along with extra victims reporting crime, modifications within the knowledge to incorporate new offences, plus ‘real will increase’ in some sorts of crime, have ‘every made substantial contributions to rises in recorded crime over latest years,’ the ONS mentioned.

Some 191,186 sexual offences have been recorded by police, down barely (by 3%) from 198,106 within the earlier 12 months, however 17% increased than the 163,326 within the pre-pandemic 12 months of 2019/20.

The figures are more likely to mirror enhancements in police recording practices and elevated reporting by victims, which suggests they ‘don’t present a dependable measure of developments in a majority of these crime’, the ONS added – although they ‘do present an excellent measure of the crime-related demand on the police’.

Figures from the separate ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales counsel individuals aged 16 and over skilled 8.5 million offences within the 12 months ending September 2023, down 7% from 9.1 million on the earlier 12 months.

The report measures experiences of crime within the 12 months earlier than interview, that means the newest survey – which was carried out between October 2022 and September 2023 – displays crimes that might have occurred way back to October 2021.

Experiences of crimes, as measured by the ONS survey, have been on a broad downwards pattern because the mid-Nineteen Nineties.