Crime Solicitors

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) reveals an estimated 6.1 million incidents of crime occurred in the survey year ending December 2016 – with no statistically significant change compared with the previous year’s survey.

There were an estimated 11.5 million incidents of crime in the survey year ending December 2016 – including experimental statistics on fraud and computer misuse offences. However, as questions on fraud and computer misuse were not included in the previous year’s survey, it is only possible to make year-on-year comparisons from the CSEW by excluding such offences, say the authors.

However, the survey states that, while it is too early to look at trends in fraud from the new CSEW Experimental Statistics, other data suggest it has risen over the last year.

Fraud referred to the police shows an annual rise of 4% and industry data on financial fraud shows there were 1.8 million cases of fraud on UK-issued credit and debit cards, representing an increase of 22% on the previous year’s figures.

However, most main offence groups covered by the CSEW show no statistically significant change compared with the previous year’s survey – theft offences were the only exception and these fell by 10%.

Police recorded a total of 4.8m offences in the year ending December 2016, an annual rise of 9%.

However, the large volume increases driving this trend are thought to reflect changes in recording processes and practices, rather than crime.

The survey reveals smaller but genuine increases in some of the lower volume but higher harm categories of police recorded violence, including homicide and knife crime.

There were also small increases in some offences where recording practices are less likely to have been a driving factor – for example, it is likely that recent rises in burglary and robbery reflect some genuine increases in crime.

However, these recent increases should be seen in the context of substantial falls in such crime over the longer term, say the survey’s authors.

The Official Statistics draw on two main sources to measure crime levels and trends – the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime. However, CSEW authors say neither of these sources can provide a complete picture and each have different strengths and limitations.

A change in the CSEW data involves the recording of online crime – an offence should be flagged where the reporting officer believes that, on the balance of probability, the offence was committed, in full or in part, through a computer, computer network or other computer-enabled device.

Duncan Lewis Criminal Lawyers

Duncan Lewis Criminal Lawyers can advise at any stage of a charge involving fraud or serious fraud, including charges relating to: