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3.1 The statistics quoted in this section refer to cases currently ( i.e. as at 28 November 2005) recorded as homicide. A case of homicide refers to one incident, and may involve more than one victim or accused person.
3.2 The police recorded 134 cases of homicide in 2004/05, 27 more than in 2003/04 and the highest annual total since 1995/96. In all but two of these cases the police had found a suspect. Of these cases, 74 (55 per cent) have so far resulted in convictions, 44 for murder and 30 for culpable homicide.
Table A: Status of cases currently recorded as homicide, as at 28 November 2005
Crime and Status | Year recorded |
|---|
1995/96 | 1996/97 | 1997/98 | 1998/99 | 1999/00 | 2000/01 | 2001/02 | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 |
|---|
All homicide cases | 134 | 107 | 96 | 93 | 122 | 105 | 112 | 123 | 107 | 134 |
|---|
Cases resulting in conviction | 98 | 78 | 71 | 64 | 85 | 71 | 82 | 87 | 78 | 74 |
|---|
Murder | 53 | 37 | 29 | 41 | 49 | 35 | 47 | 49 | 36 | 44 |
|---|
Culpable Homicide | 45 | 41 | 42 | 23 | 36 | 36 | 35 | 38 | 42 | 30 |
|---|
Other (1) | 36 | 29 | 25 | 29 | 37 | 34 | 30 | 36 | 29 | 60 |
|---|
Murder | 27 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 25 | 28 | 22 | 24 | 18 | 47 |
|---|
Culpable Homicide | 9 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 13 |
|---|
(1) Includes cases which were either unsolved or pending at 28 November 2005, or where the accused had no proceedings taken against them or were acquitted.
3.3 Homicide cases involving more than one victim remain rare. There was only two such cases in 2004/05, which is little different from the position in previous years ( Table 2). Thirty-nine (29 per cent) of the homicide cases recorded in 2004/05 involved more than one accused.
3.4 In 2004/05, 82 of the 134 recorded homicide cases were in the Strathclyde police force area, 61 per cent of the total. The overall increase between 2003/04 and 2004/05 in the number of recorded homicide cases increases in the number of cases recorded by Central, City of Edinburgh, Northern and Strathclyde. For other force areas the number of cases recorded in 2004/05 was either the same as or close to the level in 2003/04.
3.5 The most common location of homicide cases in 2004/05 was within a dwelling (57 per cent of all cases), followed by a street or footpath (34 per cent). This pattern has remained fairly consistent from year to year ( Table 5). Chart 2 shows the distribution of homicide cases by location type over the 10 years covered by this bulletin.
Chart 2: Location of homicide cases, 1995/96-2004/05
3.6 The majority (72 per cent) of solved homicide cases in the decade 1995/96-2004/05 involved males killing males. Cases where the main accused and main victim were both female amounted to just over 2 per cent of homicide cases. Table B shows the distribution of the sex of main accused and main victim for all of the solved cases. Also given is the percentage of homicides in each category which are currently recorded as murder. It can be seen that cases where a male is killed by a female are more likely to have a current classification of culpable homicide rather than murder.
Table B: Sex of main accused and main victim in solved homicide cases, 1995/96-2004/05
Sex of main accused | Sex of main victim |
|---|
Male | Female |
|---|
Male | 803 | 195 |
|---|
(% murder) | (59) | (68) |
|---|
Female | 94 | 25 |
|---|
(% murder) | (41) | (60) |
|---|
3.7 Chart 3 shows a breakdown of the relationship between the main accused and main victim in each of the categories of homicide included in Table B. In the majority (65 per cent) of cases where a male was accused of killing another male, the victim and accused were acquaintances. In 51 per cent of cases where a female was accused of killing a male, the accused and victim were partners. This was also the relationship in 49 per cent of cases where a male was accused of killing a female.
Chart 3: Relationship between main accused and main victim in solved homicide cases, 1995/96-2004/05
3.8 Homicides recorded by the police make up only a very small proportion of all recorded violent crime; 0.2 per cent between 1995/96 and 2004/05 ( Table 4). The trend in the number of recorded homicides followed a roughly similar pattern to trends for the number of recorded attempted murders and serious assaults ( Chart 4).
Chart 4: Trends in selected violent crimes, 1995/96-2004/05 (index 1995/96=100)
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