The London ‘murder rate’ has become something of a political football as the Mayoral election draws near. Last year the Evening Standard reported that the number of murders in the capital had fallen to a level not seen since 1978. On Saturday the Times reported that it had continued to fall to a level not […]
Category Archives: Statistics
Review 2011: The Victims
There were 114 homicides in London in 2011 compared to 122 the previous year, according to our own list of cases. This continues the downward trend since 2003. The good news continues when we break down the cases by weapon. What had started to look like an increase in fatal shootings went into reverse while […]
Review 2011: Defendants and the Courts
For 2011 we decided to look not just at the victims of homicide in London but also the defendants who have been arrested, charged and put on trial. The year has seen several major convictions: the suspected serial killer John Sweeney was given a whole life sentence for two murders, seven teenagers were jailed for […]
Emergency medicine and the murder rate
There are several possible explanations for the decrease in the murder rate in London over the last decade: longer sentences, better living standards, better policing and detective work, a decline in drug use, or perhaps just a greater respect for human life in general. All have a part to play, but it is easy to […]
Teen Murders 2007 to 2010
Last month four teenagers were murdered in London. The fact their deaths occurred in the space of ten days only highlighted the tragedy. Three were stabbed to death (Wing Ho, Kasey Gordon, Daniel Graham) and one ran into the path of a bus after being confronted by a gang (Ezekiel Amosu). In recent years teen […]
Murder Statistics
Every year there are over 700 crimes initially classed as murder in the UK. According to official figures, this is close to double the amount recorded in the aftermath of the Second World War. Does this mean that Britain is a more dangerous place? How much of this increase is down to population growth and […]