Increase in violence as crime figures fall

The Office of National Statistics data shows Northumbria Police recorded 5,366 violence incidents in South Tyneside in the 12 months to September – an increase of four per cent on the previous year.

The rate of 35.5 crimes per 1,000 people was higher than the level in England and Wales, which stood at 32.3.

There was an eight per cent rise in offences of violence resulting in injury to 1,473.

One of the main factors behind the increase in South Tyneside was the rise in stalking and harassment, rising by nine per cent from 1,926 incidents to 2,103.

The total number of offences in the area fell by two per cent, with police recording 13,315 crimes over the course of the year.

This puts the overall crime rate at 88.1 per 1,000 people, compared to a national average of 82.4.

Other crimes recorded in South Tyneside included:

*431 sexual offences, down one per cent.

*2,889 thefts, down five per cent.

*1,864 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down 13%.

*345 drug offences, up six per cent.

*118 possession of weapons, up 16%.

*1,824 public order offences, down four per cent.

Nationally around 5.8 million offences were recorded in England and Wales in the year to September – a two per cent rise compared to the previous year – though there was a 1% drop to 4.9 million offences when excluding cases of fraud and computer misuse.