Fall in recorded crime
The overall number of crimes recorded by police fell by five per cent in the three months to the end of June, compared to 2003 figures for the same quarter, according to official figures.
The Government said Britain was witnessing the “longest sustained fall in crime in living memory.”
The figures showed domestic burglary had dropped by a 23 per cent quarter-on-quarter while robbery was down 15 per cent.
Recorded vehicles theft and vehicle break-ins fell 12 per cent.
But dampening the euphoria, critics warned the number of recorded violent crimes was on the increase, up 11 per cent.
Police figures showed a 14 per cent rise in attacks against the person, up from 233,600 to 265,800.
Gun crime had increased three per cent to 10,590 in the year to June 2004, compared with the same period year-on-year but the number of deaths from shooting had dropped by 15 per cent, from 82 to 70.
Although fatalities were down, official figures noted 430 incidents involving serious injuries.
Hazel Blears, Home Office Minister, said more “low-level thuggery, anti-social behaviour and alcohol-related crime” had been included in the figures and as such that partly explained the rise in recorded violence crime.
The British Crime Survey (BCS) in a separate study found violent crime had dropped six per cent in the past year.
The survey, which interviewed 40,000 people about their experiences of crime, found violence involving injury had dropped 12 per cent.
