Sexual offences in Bristol rise 12% - more than 100 more incidents than previous year

More sexual offences were recorded in Bristol over the last year - despite an overall drop in recorded crime.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary recorded 1,585 incidents of sexual offences in the city in the 12 months to September, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was an increase of 12% compared to the previous year - more than 100 more incidents.

At 3.4 crimes per 1,000 people, that was also slightly higher than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 2.9.

Last month, Avon and Somerset Police’s newly-appointed Chief Constable Sarah Crew said one of her priorities was to be tackle violence against women and girls having spent time as a detective specialising in serious sexual offences.

Following the rape and murder of Sarah Everard, she told BristolWorld more needed to be done on keeping women from harm and that a steering group had been set up to arrange a summit with leading figures on the issue.

The ONS figures showed the total number of offences in Bristol fell by 1%, with police recording 49,643 crimes over the course of the year.

Other crimes recorded in Bristol included:

• 16,819 violent offences, a rise of 4%
• 14,850 theft offences, down 7%
• 5,689 incidents of criminal damage and arson, up 6%
• 328 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, down 9%
• 7,496 public order offences, down 2%

Across England and Wales around 5.8 million offences were recorded in the year to September – a 2% 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.

Police forces across the two nations logged the highest number of rapes and sexual offences in a 12-month period in the year to September, the figures show.

Around 63,100 rapes were recorded in the year to September, up 13% from the previous period (56,100).

This was the highest recorded annual figure to date and included 17,400 offences between July and September – the highest quarterly figure.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Nobody should have to experience the horror of rape and other sexual crimes.

“It’s encouraging that more victims of sexual violence are coming forward, and we’ve been clear that police must raise the bar in handling such cases so victims know that they will be taken seriously and criminals responsible are put behind bars.”