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 […]
Category Archives: Statistics
Unsolved / Undetected Homicides 1999-2011
The Metropolitan Police have issued a list of 290 ‘undetected homicides’ going back to January 1999, following a Freedom of Information request. When people talk of unsolved murders we tend to think of classic fictional mysteries or the crimes of fiendish killers like ‘Jack the Ripper’. Deep down, of course, we realise that cases go […]
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 […]
The Met’s Five Year List of Murders
The Metropolitan Police recently agreed to release details of all ‘murders’ (actually all homicides, including manslaughter) in the last five years following a Freedom of Information request. There are a few discrepancies with our own list of murders but these actually illuminate how the Met records each homicide. The Met already releases monthly totals and […]