50 Facts Everyone Should Know About Crime and Punishment in Britain

Book

50 Facts Everyone Should Know About Crime and Punishment in Britain

Edited by: James Treadwell and Adam Lynes

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2019

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About this book

Are you the kind of person who watches crime drama and real-life crime documentaries on television? Are you fascinated by the twists and turns of justice and the law? But how much do you really know about key issues in crime, crime control, policing and punishment in the UK? This exciting, dynamic and accessible book, written by leading experts, presents 50 key facts related to crime and criminal justice policy in Britain. Did you know that, contrary to public belief, in the UK a life sentence does actually last for life? And that capital punishment in the UK was abolished for murder in 1965 but the Death Penalty was a legally defined punishment as late as 1998? Offering thought-provoking insights into the study of crime, this fascinating “go to” book is packed with facts and figures revealing the myths and realities of crime in contemporary Britain.

Topics

Social Sciences Sociology Sociology, other

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	iii
Notes on the editors Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	1
Part One. Historical context
FACT 1 The Crime Survey for England and Wales in 2017 states that there were 10.8 million incidents of crime in the previous year Simon Winlow Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	11
FACT 2 Capital punishment in the UK was abolished in 1965, but the Death Penalty was a legally defined punishment until 1998 Duncan Frankis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	17
FACT 3 Homosexual male (gay) sex was only decriminalised in England some 50 years ago Em Temple-Malt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	21
FACT 4 The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was set up 60 years before the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) Jo Turner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	27
Part Two. Crime in Britain today
FACT 5 Vehicle crime in England and Wales has fallen by 80% since 1993 Liam Brolan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	35
FACT 6 Businesses face higher rates of victimisation than households or individuals Matt Hopkins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	40
FACT 7 From 2007 to 2017, there were around 2.3 million deliberate fires in the UK, resulting in over 25,000 injuries and over 900 deaths Tammy Ayres Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	44
FACT 8 Between 2016 and 2017, 80,393 hate crimes were committed in England and Wales Stevie-Jade Hardy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	49
FACT 9 The cost of waste crime in the UK exceeded £1 billion for the first time in 2016 Haydn Davies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	54
Part Three. International comparisons
FACT 10 There is a 0.9 per 100,000 people murder rate in the UK; in Lithuania, it is 5.9 per 100,000 Dan Rusu Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	61
FACT 11 The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is the lowest in Europe at just 10 years old Emma Kelly Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	66
FACT 12 Between 2004 and 2017, 33 people were fatally shot by the police in England and Wales Laura Riley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	70
Part Four. The police
FACT 13 There were 298,949 police stop-and-search incidents in England and Wales in 2016/17 – a rate of 5 per 1,000 people Aidan O’Sullivan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	77
FACT 14 The police and security services are keeping 3,000 people in the UK under surveillance for suspected terrorist activities Melindy Brown Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	82
FACT 15 The Metropolitan Police Service examines approximately 40,000 digital forensics devices annually Jonathan Jackson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	86
FACT 16 Police officers comprise only 60% of the police workforce in England and Wales Kelly J. Stockdale Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	91
FACT 17 An individual police officer will attend to approximately 150 non-crime-related issues per year Claire Davis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	96
Part Five. Prison realities
FACT 18 Contrary to what people often think, a life sentence does last for life James Treadwell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	103
FACT 19 The average yearly cost of keeping one person in prison in England and Wales is £35,182 David Sheldon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	109
FACT 20 In 2016, almost 289,605 extra days (or 793 years of imprisonment) were added to prisoners’ sentences Kate Gooch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	114
FACT 21 3.5% of those serving a sentence in the criminal justice system in England and Wales are former military personnel Emma Murray Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	118
FACT 22 Prisons are now the largest provider of residential care for older men in England and Wales Sophie Rowe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	122
FACT 23 The female prison population accounts for just under 5% of the total prison population Nicola Harding Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	126
Part Six. Criminal justice
FACT 24 Around 84% of all offenders who appear before the courts are convicted Susie Atherton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	133
FACT 25 Judges in courts in England and Wales do not use gavels Shona Robinson-Edwards Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	139
FACT 26 The Home Office claims that around 100,000 people are responsible for half of all recorded crime Katie Brooker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	142
FACT 27 In 2017 there were 260,000 offenders in the community under statutory supervision by the criminal justice system in England and Wales Cristiana Cardoso Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	147
FACT 28 It’s (nearly) impossible to go to jail for not paying your debts, but mass indebtedness nonetheless remains an entry point to many crime problems Mark Horsley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	151
Part Seven. Black market Britain
FACT 29 The number of suspected victims of trafficking and slavery in the UK increased by 35% in 2017; of the 5,145 suspected victims from 116 countries, 2,118 were minors Sarah Page Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	161
FACT 30 The fake medicine trade has now overtaken marijuana as the world’s largest market for criminal traffickers Charlotte Stevens Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	167
FACT 31 Tackling drug trafficking costs the UK government £10.7 billion annually Kevin Hoffin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	172
FACT 32 Alcohol-related crime in the UK is estimated to cost the economy between £8 billion and £13 billion per year Craig Kelly Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	178
FACT 33 For every £1 spent on drug-related treatment, there is a £2.50 benefit to society Loukas Ntanos Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	182
FACT 34 If you get caught selling counterfeits, you can face a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine Joanna Large Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	187
Part Eight. Violent Britain
FACT 35 There is no comprehensive national figure for the number of gangs or the number of young people involved or associated with gangs Charlene Crossley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	193
FACT 36 Britain’s most prolific serial killer was Dr Harold Shipman, yet we are still uncertain how many people he actually killed David Wilson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	198
FACT 37 The average cost of a contract murder in the UK is just £15,180 Mohammed Rahman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	203
FACT 38 Sex workers in the UK are 12 times more likely to be murdered than the general population Kate Williams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	208
FACT 39 Not all violence is criminal Victoria Silverwood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	212
FACT 40 You cannot consent to be harmed in sex, but you can in the boxing ring John Bahadur Lamb Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	216
Part Nine. Victims
FACT 41 64% of homicide victims are male Anthony Ellis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	223
FACT 42 It is claimed that around one in 20 children in Britain are sexually abused Saabirah Osman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	228
FACT 43 More than three-quarters of people sleeping rough have been victims of crime or antisocial behaviour in the past year Daniel McCulloch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	232
FACT 44 In 2015/16, the NHS treated over 9,000 cases of female genital mutilation Dionne Taylor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	237
FACT 45 Two women are killed each week by a current or former partner in England and Wales Morag Kennedy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	241
FACT 46 Almost 50% of stalkers present themselves at their victim’s workplace Craig Jackson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	246
Part Ten. Crime and technology
FACT 47 Around one in six of all estimated crimes in England and Wales in the year to September 2016 were fraud committed online, according to the Office for National Statistics Keith Spiller Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	255
FACT 48 The number of alleged crimes involving social media such as Facebook and Twitter have increased nearly eightfold between 2008 and 2012 Elizabeth Yardley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	259
FACT 49 There is estimated to be one CCTV camera for every 14 people in the UK Pravanjot Kapil Singh Uppal Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	264
FACT 50 There are currently some 11,000 offenders subject to ‘tagging’ on any day in England and Wales, and the UK is one of Europe’s keenest adopters of electronic monitoring of offenders Adam Lynes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	268
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	273
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	321

Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

March 27, 2019

eBook ISBN:

9781447343820

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

176

https://doi.org/10.56687/9781447343820

eBook ISBN: 9781447343820

Audience(s) for this book

College/higher education;

50 Facts Everyone Should Know About Crime and Punishment in Britain

Overview

About this book

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