Domestic abuse cases have risen, says crime charity
While overall crime fell sharply during the lockdown period, a charity for victims of crime said it also saw an increase in crimes such as domestic abuse.
West Mercia Victim Support added that many of these crimes may have been under-reported because it was more difficult for victims to contact police.
Official crime statistics show that the number of offences reported fell sharply in April and May compared to the previous year, but saw an increase as restrictions began to ease.
But Chris Hodson, senior operations manager at the charity, said while some crimes fell during the lockdown, the charity saw an increase in demands for its services in other areas.
He said: “We’ve seen a significant rise in people from West Mercia contacting us for help as a result of other crimes such as domestic abuse, anti-social behaviour and hate crime as lockdown eased – and we’re still anticipating further increases."
Mr Hodson added that the lockdown restrictions resulted in many crimes being under-reported, as victims were not in a position to report incidents safely.
"We ensured that all our local services, including the 24/7 Supportline and live chat services, remained open during lockdown so that people had somewhere to go for safe and confidential support,” he said.
Monthly police recorded data show a reduction in crime during the lockdown period.
In March 2020, the police recorded 442,816 crimes, down five per cent compared to February.
This fell to 354,334 offences in April, a decrease of 20 per cent compared to the previous month.
However during May, when some of the lockdown restrictions were eased, the number of crimes recorded rose by 12 per cent.
April 2020 was the only month where full UK lockdown measures were applied throughout, during which time the police recorded the lowest monthly crime figures for April in five years.
