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3.1 The statistics quoted in this section refer to cases currently (i.e. as at 12 November 1999) 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 98 cases of homicide in 1998, 8 more than in 1997. In all but one of these cases the police had found a suspect. Of these cases of homicide, 57 have so far resulted in convictions, 37 for murder and 20 for culpable homicide. This represents a higher proportion of cases where the final crime is murder than in previous years.
Table A: Status of cases currently recorded as homicide, as at 12th November 1999
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Crime and Status |
Year recorded |
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1989 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
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All homicide cases |
92 |
80 |
85 |
131 |
114 |
108 |
132 |
116 |
90 |
98 |
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Cleared up |
91 |
78 |
80 |
130 |
113 |
104 |
131 |
113 |
88 |
97 |
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Cases resulting in conviction |
71 |
63 |
55 |
95 |
68 |
77 |
90 |
91 |
64 |
57 |
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Murder |
26 |
22 |
23 |
36 |
34 |
40 |
48 |
43 |
24 |
37 |
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Culpable Homicide |
45 |
41 |
32 |
59 |
34 |
37 |
42 |
48 |
40 |
20 |
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Other (1) |
20 |
15 |
25 |
35 |
45 |
27 |
41 |
22 |
24 |
40 |
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Murder |
12 |
11 |
19 |
29 |
37 |
22 |
29 |
19 |
18 |
29 |
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Culpable Homicide |
8 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
5 |
12 |
3 |
6 |
11 |
(1) Includes cases which were either unsolved or pending at 12 November 1999, 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 were only 2 such cases in 1998, which is little different from the position in recent years (Table 2). Thirty-one (almost one third) of the homicide cases recorded in 1998 involved more than one accused. This represents an increase in the proportion of cases involving multiple accused, the average proportion in the preceding decade being around one quarter.
3.4 In 1998, 64 of the 98 recorded homicide cases were in the Strathclyde police force area, similar to the position in most years in the preceding decade. An exception to this was 1990, when the Strathclyde share of homicide cases was lower due to a particularly low number of homicides in the force area outside Glasgow. Forty-six of the homicide cases in 1998 were within the four main city council areas. There were only 20 homicide cases outwith the Strathclyde and Lothian & Borders police force areas.
3.5 The most common location of homicide cases in 1998 was within a dwelling (48 per cent of cases), followed by a street or footpath (33 per cent). This pattern has remained fairly consistent from year to year (Table 4). 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, 1989-98
3.6 The majority (69 per cent) of solved homicide cases in the decade 1989-98 involved males killing males. Cases where the main accused and main victim were both female amounted to less than 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 less likely to be classified as murder, and most often result in a verdict of culpable homicide.
Table B: Sex of main accused and main victim in solved homicide cases, 1989-98
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Sex of main victim |
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Male |
Female |
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Sex of |
Male |
712 |
215 |
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(% murder) |
(55) |
(62) |
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Female |
83 |
16 |
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(% murder) |
(25) |
(63) |
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3.7 Chart 3 shows a breakdown of the relationships between the main accused and main victim in each of the categories of homicide shown in table B. In the majority (61 per cent) of cases where a male was accused of killing another male, the victim and accused were acquaintances. In 64 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 52 per cent of cases where a male was accused of killing a female.
Chart 3: Relationships between main accused and main victim in homicide cases, 1989-1998
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