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4. Victims of homicide (Table 6)
Age and sex ( Table 6)
4.1 In total there were 137 victims in the 134 homicide cases recorded in 2004/05, 29 more than in 2003/04 and the highest annual total since 1995/96 (when there were 150 victims including the 17 of the Dunblane shootings). This represented a rate of 27 victims per million population.
4.2 Eighty per cent of homicide victims in 2004/05 were male. The overall homicide rate for males (45 victims per million population) was over five times the rate for females (10 per million population). The highest homicide rates recorded in 2004/05 for males were for the under 1 and 21 to 29 age groups (145 and 116 victims per million population); the highest rate for females was the 16 to 20 age group (19 per million population).
Chart 5: Homicide victims(1)per million population, by age and sex, 2004/05
1. Currently (as at 28 November 2005) recorded as homicide victims.
Chart 6: Homicide victims(1), by age and sex, 1995/96-2004/05
1. Currently (as at 28 November 2005) recorded as homicide victims.
Day of the week ( Chart 7)
4.3 In the period 1995/96 to 2004/05, almost two-fifths (38 per cent) of all homicide victims were killed on a weekend. The proportion of homicide victims killed on a weekend was most pronounced for males aged 16 to 49 killing other males aged 16 to 49 where the main motive was a fight/rage/quarrel: 43 per cent of such killings occurred on a weekend. Homicides where the main accused was a partner or ex-partner of the victim were more evenly spread across the week, 35 per cent of these occurring on a weekend.
Chart 7: Homicide victims: percentage by the day of the week the homicide took place, 1995/96-2004/05
Geographical location
4.4 The prevalence of homicide varies considerably throughout Scotland. Over the ten-year period covered by this bulletin the average annual homicide rate for Scotland as a whole was 21 victims per million population. The highest rates of homicide victims per million population were observed in Glasgow (53), followed by Renfrewshire (33), Inverclyde (32) and West Dunbartonshire (32). The lowest rates were observed in Scottish Borders (7) Fife (7) and Eilean Siar (7). Of the main urban areas, Edinburgh had the lowest homicide rate, at 16 victims per million population.
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