Crime rises by 31% in Greater Manchester

Rochdale Police Station

Crime rose by a staggering 31% in Greater Manchester over the last year - the largest increase in England and Wales, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal.

England and Wales showed a 14% increase as the number of crimes surpassed the five million mark for the first time in a decade, with 5.2 million offences recorded by police.

A total of 294,581 incidents, excluding fraud, were recorded in Greater Manchester for the 12 months up to June, with an increase in all most types of offence.

Nearly all police forces recorded a rise in violence compared with the previous year. In percentage terms, Greater Manchester Police reported the third largest increase with 76,404 offences – up by 46%. South Yorkshire Police reported the largest increase (49%), closely followed by Durham Constabulary (48%).

There was an 83% increase in stalking and harassment offences, the sixth highest increase, with 15,724 incidents reported, and a 31% rise in sexual offences (7,663), the seventh highest. Nottinghamshire recorded the highest increase in sexual offences with a 51% increase.

Homicide rose by 62% with 76 incidents, the highest increase in England and Wales. 38 incidents of death or serious injury caused by dangerous driving were recorded for the time period.

Violence with injury rose to 24,744 (18%) with violence without injury was the second highest across England and Wales rose by 59% to 35,822 offences. Durham topped the chart with a 64% increase in this type of crime.

Robbery in Greater Manchester was joint second with Hampshire, increasing by 53% to 5,401 cases, whilst burglary increased by 14% to 32,173 offences. Domestic burglary increased by 20% to 19,895.

Whilst non-domestic burglary largely fell across England and Wales, Greater Manchester increased by 6% to 12,278 incidents

Vehicle offences rose to 27,661 incidents, a rise of 17%, whilst bicycle theft rose by 21% to 4,950 incidents. Theft from the person also increased by 17% to 6,812 offences, and shoplifting rose by 11% with 18,435 incidents.

Criminal damage and arson rose to 39,544 offences, an increase of 15%.

A 34% increase in possession of weapons offences meant 2,012 offences occurred. Public order offences rose by 133% to 32,617, third highest behind Cheshire (231%) and Nottinghamshire’s 145% increase. Other theft offences rose by 14% to 30,659.

Miscellaneous crimes were one of the highest to rise with a 51% increase to 5,969 offences.

However, drug-related offences actually fell by 7% to 4,281 offences, the only type of crime to fall in Greater Manchester. These largely fell across the country with Lancashire experiencing the biggest drop with a 26% reduction in drug-related crimes.