Sharp rise in violent and sexual crimes

Violent and sexual crimes have continued to increase dramatically in the area.

Overall, the number of offences recorded in the borough rocketed by more than 15 per cent between April 2015 to March 2016, with the number of some types rising by more than 30 per cent, figures released by the Office of National Statistics show.

Most worrying of all is the huge hike in the number of sexual and violent offences recorded by local police.

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The number of sexual offences recorded went up by 30 per cent in the last year, from 473 in the 12 months to March 2015 to 615 in the 12 months to March this year.

It is also one of the only crime categories that has not decreased overall since the year ending March 2003 when just 272 were recorded, meaning the number recorded has risen by 126 per cent in the last 13 years.

Similarly, the number of violent crimes without injury have risen by 234 per cent since 2003, with a 42.6 per cent increase in the last year from 2,144 in the year ending March 2015 to 3,057 in the 12 months to March 2016.

Violence with injury has also increased by 27.5 per cent in the last year despite having fallen 23.2 per cent since 2003.

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Miscellaneous crimes against society, which includes prostitution, dangerous driving and bigamy amongst other crimes, has risen by 57 per cent in the last year, but only by 6.5 per cent since 2003.

Public order offences have shot up the most in the last year with a 70.5 per cent rise in the last year from 806 to 1374. It is also up by 128 per cent since 2003.

More traditional crimes such as bicycle theft, shoplifting and drug offences have seen a fall.

Bike thefts have dropped by 38 per cent since 2003 and was down 12 per cent in the last year from 395 to 347 while drug offences have dropped 25 per cent since 2003 and by 30 per cent in the last year.

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Shoplifting has risen 21 per cent since 2003 but dropped two per cent in the last year from 1,635 and 1,601. The number of robberies increased by 29 per cent in the last year having fallen to 39 per cent since 2003, while theft from a person offences have risen 32.5 per cent having fallen by 28 per cent since 2003.

In most cases, crimes have been falling since 2003 and have seen a reduction overall in that period but most have begun to rise again in the last few years.

Now politicians are calling on the Home Secretary to give police more resources to fight crime after new figures revealed a dramatic rise.

Greater Manchester Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd has called on the new Home Secretary Amber Rudd to stay true to her commitment to cut crime across the country.

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Mr Lloyd called on Rudd to ensure Greater Manchester Police had the correct resources to tackle crime after figures released by the Office of National Statistics showed a 12 per cent rise in crime across the area between April 2015 and March 2016.

He said: “Rising crime rates will be of concern to local people, as local policing is still over stretched and under-resourced.

“Looking at the crime figures in detail, we have continued to see an increase in sexual offences, with more victims coming forward.

“We need the resources to deal with these and traditional crimes such as burglary. That’s why I call on the new Home Secretary to back our police service and make sure it has the means to keep our communities safe and protect the vulnerable.

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“Amber Rudd says she is committed to cutting crime and keeping this country safe and secure. I challenge her to come good on her words.”

Sexual offences and violent crime have once again seen the biggest increases in reported crime, while theft, vehicle crime and shoplifting have also gone up. Robbery and burglary offences have stayed at similar levels.