PUBLICATION:              Financial Times

DATE:                         2004.01.23 

WORDS:                     542

BYLINE:                     By ROHIT JAGGI

PAGE:                         Page 5

EDITION:                    London Ed2

SECTION:                  NATIONAL NEWS

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BRITISH CRIME SURVEY: Ministers accused of spin after violence rise

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Violent crime rose 14 per cent in the third quarter of last year compared with a year before, according to police recorded crime figures released yesterday.

Overall recorded crime in England and Wales was unchanged and the British Crime Survey, based on interviews with a sample of the population in the 12 months to September last year, indicated a 3 per cent fall in violent crime compared with a year earlier.

But figures for gun crime, an area targeted by the government for urgent action, showed a rise of 2 per cent in 2002-03 - although this compared with a 34 per cent rise in 2001-02.

And in terms of fear of crime, another area highlighted by the Home Office for attention, the survey found that the risk of being a victim of crime was 27 per cent - about the same as in 1981.

Hazel Blears, Home Office minister, said: It is important to put the increases in police recording of violent crime into context.

Better police crime recording policies mean that local forces now have a clearer picture of crime in their area and that anti-social behaviour and low-level thuggery, which are included in the violent crime figures, are more accurately recorded, she said.

We are also encouraging victims to report crimes, especially violent and sexual offences, and we would expect to see a rise in these figures.

She also pointed out that, in recorded crime, the increase in violent offences was balanced by a fall in other areas. Police recorded a drop of 3 per cent in domestic burglary in the quarter, a fall of 2 per cent in robberies, and an 8 per cent fall in vehicle crime.

But David Davis, shadow home secretary, said: No amount of Home Office spin can hide the fact that violent crime is soaring.

After todays figures confirm that gun crime is still rising, and is now twice the level it was in 1997, it is absurd ...to claim the government are making significant progress in the fight against gun crime. All they have done is improve on last years disastrous performance.

There were 1,045 deaths recorded initially as homicides in England and Wales in 2002-03 - a rise of 21 per cent on the previous year. However, Jon Stoddart, deputy chief constable of Durham, said the total included 172 deaths at the hands of Harold Shipman, the serial killer GP. When these homicides are factored out of the statistics, the actual increase is 1 per cent.

Mr Stoddart said a sharp instrument was the most common weapon in murders. Firearms were used in 8 per cent of all homicides, he said, and this represents an 18 per cent decrease from the previous year.

Other figures released yesterday showed that while burglaries in general are falling, about one in 200 homes in England and Wales will experience violence from intruders this year.

The study by Professor David Canter of Liverpool University, for Chubb Insurance, found, after analysing Home Office figures, that 1 per cent of households each year have some experience of an intruder and half have some form of contact.