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6. Circumstances of Homicides (Tables 10-14)
Method
6.1 The most common method of killing in 2004/05 was a sharp instrument, accounting for 72 victims (53 per cent of the total). This was the highest figure recorded in the last 10 years, and accounted for over half of the overall increase in homicides between 2003/04 and 2004/05. Males aged 16 to 49 comprised three-quarters (77 per cent) of these victims. In the ten year period 1995/96-2004/05, a sharp instrument was the most common method of killing of both males and females (48 per cent of the total), though as can be seen from chart 9 it was relatively more common for males than for females. Among the other methods of killing, the next most common for males was hitting and kicking (17 per cent of victims), while for females it was strangulation/drowning (20 per cent of victims). Death by shooting is relatively rare - there were 8 such victims in 2004/05, all male.
Chart 9: Homicide victims by sex and method of killing, 1995/96-2004/05
Relationship of main accused to victim
6.2 For 74 per cent of the 137 homicide victims in 2004/05, the main accused was known to them, either as an acquaintance (55 per cent), a partner (10 per cent) or a relative (9 per cent) ( Table 11). Just under a fifth (18 per cent) of victims were killed by a stranger. For the remaining 8 per cent of victims, the relationship to the main accused was unknown or no accused person had yet been identified.
6.3 Chart 10 illustrates the trends over the last 10 years in homicide rates for male and female victims by their relationship to the main accused. The highest rate for males has consistently been killing by an acquaintance. For females the highest rate was generally killing by a partner. The most striking aspect of these trends is that fluctuations in the rate for males killed by acquaintances largely drive fluctuations in the overall homicide rate. The rates for all other types of homicides remained relatively stable, and low, throughout the 1995/96-2004/05 period.
Chart 10: Homicide rates by sex of victim and relationship of main accused to victim(1 ), 1995/96-2004/05
1. Currently (as at 28 November 2005) recorded as homicide victims.
2. Includes the 17 victims (5 male and 12 female) of the Dunblane shootings in 1995/96.
6.4 Over the last 10 years, a total of 96 children under the age of 16 were victims of homicide (solved cases). Of these, 48 per cent were killed by one of their parents ( Table 12). Excluding the 16 child victims of the Dunblane incident, this proportion was 58 per cent. For the 27 victims aged under a year old, the main accused (where known) was either a parent or other relative.
6.5 For homicides recorded in the last ten years, 52 per cent of the female victims aged between 16 and 69 were killed by their partner. For male victims aged 16 to 69, only 6 per cent were killed by their partner, and a further 4 per cent by a relative. The majority (64 per cent) of male victims aged 16 to 69 in the past 10 years were killed by an acquaintance and 20 per cent by a stranger.
6.6 Of the 49 older people (aged 70 and over) who were victims of homicide in the 10 years from 1995/96 to 2004/05, 25 were male and 24 female. Thirty-nine per cent of these (19 victims) were killed by a stranger, a higher rate than among younger adults. A total of 9 older people were killed by their son or daughter, 5 by a partner and 14 by someone else known to them.
Motivation
6.7 Eleven victims (8 per cent of all victims) were reported to have been killed in drug-related homicide cases in 2004/05. Ten of these victims were male and one was female. None of the homicides recorded in 2004/05 were reported to have had a racial motivation while one was reported as having had a homophobic motivation. (In this context, "drug-related" is defined as a homicide motivated by a need to obtain drugs or money for drugs, a homicide of a consumer or supplier of drugs or a homicide as a consequence of rivalry within the drugs trade/ between users and dealers.)
6.8 The most common reasons recorded for homicide in 2004/05 were rage/fury or fight/quarrel, with 56 per cent of victims killed in such circumstances. This was the same as the average proportion recorded for the decade 1995/96-2004/05 period as a whole.
6.9 The most common set of circumstances in which females become victims of homicide are in a dwelling, in a rage/fight with a partner ( Table 14). Location is less of a factor for male victims, whose killing more typically is a result of a rage/fight with an acquaintance. Just over a quarter (26 per cent) of all female victims in the period 1995/96-2004/05 were killed out with a dwelling, compared with 48 per cent of males.
Drink/drug status ( Tables 15 and 16)
6.10 The drink/drug status was reported for 106 (56 per cent) of accused persons in homicide cases recorded in 2004/05. Of these, 46 per cent were drunk, 15 per cent on drugs and 10 per cent were both drunk and on drugs. Where known, the proportion of accused who were drunk was highest for those in the age group 16-20 (75 per cent) and 50 and over (80 per cent). The proportion of accused under the influence of drugs was highest for persons aged 21-29 (43 per cent) ( Chart 11).
6.11 In two-thirds (67 per cent) of cases where the main accused was drunk and/or on drugs, the victim was also known to have been drunk and/or on drugs. Where the main motive for a homicide was a fight or quarrel, 87 per cent of the main accused for whom the drink/drug status was known were drunk and/or under the influence of drugs. In most of these cases the victim was also drunk and/or on drugs at the time the homicide took place.
Chart 11: Drink/drug status of accused persons (where known) in homicide cases, 2004/05
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