Crime data for Gwent shows violence is on the rise

New figures show Gwent Police recorded 54,490 offences in the region in the 12 months to March.

That was an increase of more than 13 per cent compared to the previous year, when there were 47,971 offences.

The number of recorded offences has risen in the past year by nearly 1,800 in Newport, by more than 1,600 in Caerphilly county borough, more than 1,300 in Torfaen, more than 1,000 in Blaenau Gwent, and by nearly 800 in Monmouthshire.

The region's police and crime commissioner (PCC) said crime had risen across the UK since the end of the Covid pandemic, and Gwent was "not immune" to national increases.

Of the crimes recorded in Gwent over the last 12 months, around 40 per cent were violent, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

There were 3,270 more violent crimes recorded in the region last year than in the previous 12 months - an increase of nearly 18 per cent.

Newport recorded the most violent offences (6,690) last year, and the biggest rise was in Torfaen (up 25 per cent).

Police officers at a crime scene in Newport, March 2021. Picture: Huw Evans Picture Agency

More than 1,700 sexual offences were recorded in Gwent – and reports of this type of crime have increased in every part of the region in the past year.

Caerphilly recorded the most sexual offences (529) in that time, and the biggest increase was in Blaenau Gwent, where the 248 reported offences represent an 80 per cent increase from the year before.

Public order offences also rose generally across Gwent. There were nearly 9,000 such crimes recorded across the region in the 12 months to March, with the sharpest increase being in Monmouthshire (up 24 per cent).

Reports of theft, meanwhile, are more mixed. While incidents increased in Blaenau Gwent (up 16 per cent) and rather more slightly in Newport (up nine per cent) and Torfaen (up five per cent), thefts have decreased in both Monmouthshire (down seven per cent) and Caerphilly county borough (down one per cent).

The new figures cover a 12-month period in which most Covid rules were relaxed and eventually lifted, with society returning to a degree of pre-pandemic normality.

But Covid itself brought significant changes to crime trends, when nationwide restrictions kept people at home for months on end.

As well as a drop in overall crime levels in 2020, there were also sharp reductions in the numbers of thefts (down 20 per cent), residential burglaries (down 10 per cent) and shoplifting (down 19 per cent), owing perhaps to the stay-at-home laws and the closure of so many businesses.

Gwent PCC Jeff Cuthbert noted crime had risen "across the UK" but said he was concerned some offences, like sexual- and domestic abuse, were "actually under-reported".

"We are working closely with our partners to ensure that victims have the confidence to report these crimes to the police and the rise in this area hopefully shows that this work is succeeding," he said.

Mr Cuthbert said falls in offences such as burglary were partly down to a recent initiative, called We Don't Buy Crime, which "is safeguarding properties and tackling the criminal supply chain".

"We are also seeing a consistent fall in drug offences across the Welsh forces as a result of partnership working and proactive policing to disrupt supplies and catch offenders," he added.

“We will never be complacent and in addition to Gwent Police’s work to protect communities we have recently been awarded more than £700,000 from the Home Office for proactive measures to tackle anti-social behaviour and other offences like burglary, robbery and theft, across Gwent.”