Skip to main content

Violent Crime

Volume 400: debated on Monday 24 February 2003

The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the proportion of violent crimes in each of the last five years where (a) alcohol and (b) illegal drug use were involved. [98173]

Police-recorded crime statistics can not provide information on the proportion of violent crime where alcohol and/or illegal drug use are involved. The British Crime Survey (BCS) reports on the victim's perception of offenders in violent incidents. Violent crime measured by the BCS can be classified into four sub-groups: domestic, mugging, stranger and acquaintance violence. The following tables show the proportion of violent incidents in which victims felt that the offender/s was under the influence of drink or drugs, firstly for all violence reported to the survey and then separately for the breakdown by individual types of violence. It should be noted that sweeps of the BCS were not conducted in 1997 or 1999.

Table 1. Whether offender/s under the influence of drink or drugs in violent incidents (1998 BCS, 2000 BCS, 2001–02 BCS interviews)
All violence
1998 BCS2000 BCS2001–02 BCS Interviews
Under influence of drink(percentage)(percentage)(percentage)
Yes424047
No485044
Don't know1099
Unweighted9421,0521,341
Under influence of drugs(percentage)(percentage)(percentage)
Yes181821
No545556
Don't know292723
Unweighted9427,0521,341

Notes:

1 Source 1998 BCS, 2000 BCS, and 2001–02 BCS interviews.

2 Not asked if offender identified as under school age. In 1998 there was one incident of acquaintance violence where the offender was said to be under school age

3 Figures may differ from those previously published due to a revision in the weighting process.

Table 2. Whether offender/s under the influence of drink or drugs by typology of violence (1998 BCS, 2000 BCS, 2001–02 BCS interviews)

Domestic

Mugging

Stranger

Acquaintance

1998

2000

2001–02

1998

2000

2001–02

1998

2000

2001–02

1998

2000

2001–02

Under influence of drugs

(percentage)

(percentage)

(percentage)

(percentage)

Yes101317152014221620192227
No818074314555353842575658
Don't979533531434638242215
know
Unweighted195229243150125279250308453347390426

Notes:

Notes:

1. Source 1998 BCS, 2000 BCS, and 2001–02 BCS interviews.

2. Not asked if offender identified as under school age. In 1998 there was one incident of acquaintance violence where the offender was said to be under school age.

3. Results for mugging should be treated with caution due to the small number of incidents.

4. Figures may differ from those previously published due to a revision in the weighting process.