Written question asked by Lord Spellar (Labour) on Friday, 9 November 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 13 November 2007. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 11 December 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Offensive Weapons

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were killed in gun or knife attacks in (a) London, (b) Lewisham, (c) Lambeth, (d) Brent, (e) Hackney, (f) Southwark, (g) Leicester, (h) Birmingham, (i) Liverpool and (j) Manchester in each of the last five years.

Answer

Available information relates to the number of homicides recorded at police force area level during the period 2001-02 to 2005-06 where the apparent method of killing was 'sharp instrument' or 'shooting'.

Homicides currently recorded¹ where apparent method of killing is sharp instrument² or shooting³, selected police force areas, 2001-02 to 2005-064
		Year offence initially recorded as homicide5
Police force area	Apparent method of killing	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
London6, 7	Sharp instrument	68	68	61	60	48
	Shooting	43	31	22	27	22

Leicestershire8	Sharp instrument	2	4	9	3	3
	Shooting	1	0	1	1	0

West Midlands8	Sharp instrument	19	17	22	21	21
	Shooting	7	9	6	6	5

Merseyside8	Sharp instrument	3	12	10	14	10
	Shooting	6	5	5	8	1

Greater Manchester8	Sharp instrument	23	19	17	15	11
	Shooting	11	6	9	8	5
¹ As at 9 October 2006; figures are revised as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. ² Includes knives as well as other sharp instruments. ³ Includes shooting by crossbows. Excludes cases where firearm was used as a blunt instrument. 4 Data for 2006-07 are scheduled to be published in late January 2008. 5 Homicide offences are shown according to the year in which the police initially recorded the offence as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the incident took place or the year in which any court decision was made. 6 Figures for Lewisham, Brent, Hackney and Southwark cannot be provided as data from the Homicide Index cannot be broken down to borough level. 7 Homicides recorded by the Metropolitan police service and City of London police. 8 Figures for Leicester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester cannot be provided as data from the Homicide Index cannot be broken down to city level.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 469 c486-8W;469 c488-90W; 164093
Session: 2007-08
Subjects: Offensive weapons
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk

Offensive Weapons

Secondary information

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