Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 27 January 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of violent crimes were recorded in each of the last 10 years.
Table 1 shows the number of non-sexual crimes of violence recorded by the police in Scotland from 2011-12 to 2020-21. From 2019-20 onwards this includes new crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, following its enactment on 1 April 2019. In addition to this, Table 2 shows the number of common assaults recorded by the police over the same time period. Both of these tables are available from the Recorded Crime in Scotland National Statistics ( Recorded Crime in Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
Table 1. Recorded crimes of non-sexual violence in Scotland, 2011-12 to 2020-21
Crime category | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
Homicide etc. 1 | 121 | 91 | 106 | 105 | 81 | 105 | 98 | 102 | 121 | 100 |
Attempted murder & serious assault 2 | 4,693 | 3,643 | 3,268 | 3,166 | 4,007 | 4,186 | 4,189 | 4,359 | 4,097 | 3,511 |
Robbery | 2,244 | 1,832 | 1,499 | 1,497 | 1,327 | 1,435 | 1,556 | 1,807 | 1,738 | 1,673 |
Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1,681 | 1,641 |
Other violencea | 2,426 | 1,902 | 1,813 | 1,504 | 1,322 | 1,438 | 1,408 | 1,740 | 1,679 | 2,047 |
Total non-sexual violence | 9,484 | 7,468 | 6,686 | 6,272 | 6,737 | 7,164 | 7,251 | 8,008 | 9,316 | 8,972 |
Table 2. Recorded offences of common assault 2 in Scotland, 2011-12 to 2020-21
Offence category | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
Common assault 2 | 69,253 | 60,955 | 60,357 | 58,178 | 58,596 | 57,861 | 58,335 | 57,915 | 57,833 | 52,052 |
Notes:
1. Includes Murder, and Culpable homicide (common law), which includes Causing death by dangerous driving, Causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, Causing death by careless driving, Illegal driver involved in fatal accident and Corporate homicide.
2. For the definition of Serious assault and the distinction between Serious assault and Common assault please see Paragraph 7.13 within Annex 1 of Recorded Crime in Scotland 2020-21 .
3. The Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 came into force 1 April 2019. The Act created a new offence of abusive behaviour as a course of conduct towards a partner or ex-partner. Prior to 1 April 2019, any criminal act which formed part of a domestic abuse incident (such as a Common assault or Threatening or abusive behaviour) was included within the statistics under the relevant crime or offence. Where there is evidence of a course of conduct, new crime codes of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 (against a male or female victim) have been created. In general, existing common law and statutory offences continue to be recorded where appropriate, in addition to the new crimes.
Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland National Statistics, annual statistics, Scottish Government